Curiosity is a Virtue
by MewMidnight
Summary: Shaw gets captured by the Engineer before she can flee, and demands Janek to take off without her. She and David are left with the Engineer, But instead of killing her, the Engineer makes a different decision. Turns out Shaw will be able to get her answers after all, and maybe more as all three of them discover they aren't so different from one another. Exploration of EngineerxShaw
1. Decisions

This is my first prometheus story, so take I hope you all take it easy on me. I adored the Engineer, and I wanted to try a different take on what happened inside the Engineer's ship. I could have seen the Engineer reacting a little differently when he encountered the Prometheus crew. It is a bit of **Engineer x Ellie**, so if that's not your cup of tea, I wouldn't advise reading further.

_Enjoy_!

-[1]-

_"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." _

**-Soren Kierkegaard**

**...**

A feeling of crushing terror made her leg muscles quake beneath her, the screams around her making her shudder inwardly. The fear in her heart was only matched by the stabbing pain in her abdomen. An enormous pale alien tossed her crew aside like leaves, and Ellie could do nothing.

A sickening shriek escaped Ford's throat as she was thrown halfway across the room by a backhanded fist to her right side. The sharp sound of bones cracking filled the room as Ford struck a support beam for the platform and fell in a heap on the floor. There was no other option.

Ellie had to run.

Ellie turned to get up and move away back toward the entrance to the room, but there was no strength in her limbs. She could feel blood in her uniform from where Weyland's mercenary had hit her with the barrel of the incinerator unit and pulled open her stitches. Seemingly useless gasps for air made her feel nauseous, and her steps were debilitatingly painful.

The sound of David speaking to Weyland was drown out by the sound of the Engineer's heavy footsteps. It all felt like a dream. Ellie pushed herself to run, but her body simply wouldn't move quick enough. It felt as though her feet were stuck to the floor as she walked like a newborn colt across the steel flooring. One of the ribbed supports of the platform made her trip, the terrible shock of knowing you were caught made her yelp as she fell to the ground. Ellie's lungs began to burn from the cool temperature in the room as she began heaving for air.

Her eyes teared up instantly. Thoughts of Charlie and all of their hopes for this mission flashed through her mind as she crumpled on the floor like a frightened animal. All of her muscles quivered with anxious energy, the loud footsteps stopped close behind her. She could almost feel the steel platform shake beneath her as the Engineer took his last few steps up to her.

She cried openly in heavy gasps, shaking her head and staring at the steel floor. Ellie couldn't look at the Engineer; knowing he was going to kill her. She whimpered a few unrecognizable words about Charlie and how she tried so hard to keep it together. A short prayer didn't calm her thoughts. Her body was simply giving out. After such a serious surgery, she shouldn't have even been walking in the first place, much less running. The thought of the killing blow from the Engineer overcame her thoughts of Charlie.

Ellie's heart pounded heavily in her chest as she clenched her eyes shut. The weight of death seemed to loom over her. This ancient alien wouldn't even take the time to figure out what they were doing there. He simply killed them on sight out of instinct, knowing what they were.

A powerful hand grabbed her shoulder and furiously rolled her to the left, making her gasp out in pain as she now faced the huge alien. Her wound throbbed in her lower abdomen. She had instantly forced herself to open her eyes and face him as the he leaned down and grabbed the front of her blue suit with a single hand and pulled her off the ground almost effortlessly. The yank upwards lifted her to his level and made her forget about her wound as her eyes met his. She breathed in heavy rasps as he glared at her with abyssal navy eyes.

The sudden sound of his voice made her cringe and let out a whimper. His voice was an intimidatingly deep sounding bellow, almost like a lions roar. Ellie chest rose and fell quickly as she finally got a good look at her 'creator'.

The alien's voice boomed out once again, looking at her angrily as if she should understand his words. Her lips quivered as she shook her head, unable to form any sensible words; not that the Engineer would even understand anything she said. The powerful being flinched as if he was going to hurt her, and it made her cry out, turning her head to the right and sobbing. Hot tears ran from the corners of her eyes, Ellie couldn't believe this was the end.

Just as she began to accept her fate, the Engineer then made a sound that sounded like a frustrated huff. Overwhelming curiosity made her quickly open her eyes and look up to the being, his eyes conveyed something different than before. It wasn't the rage filled scowl he had worn while he ripped the crew apart, it was something almost sympathetic looking. His dark eyes glanced down at her stomach area, eyeing the blood dripping out of the zipper on the front. Ellie had no clue what he was looking at or thinking. She hadn't even noticed her hands grab his wrist to help hold herself up, her eyes were just locked on his face.

Ellie felt her jaw drop as he took a deep breath, and the grip on his hand loosened. He dropped her onto the floor on her back, causing her to wince at the rattling of her now sensitive organs and look up in surprise at the space jockey. To her disbelief, he simply stepped around her as if she no longer existed. Ellie's whole body trembled as she yanked her head around to look at where he was going, her heart still drumming in her chest.

The pale skinned alien leaned down and typed on the master controls, and a center section of the platform opened up on the floor. The red head woman simply stared in amazement as a huge throne looking piece of machinery rose up out of the floor only a few feet from her. Her thoughts were no where near here, all she could think of was why he didn't tear her apart. Still ignoring her, the Engineer made his way across the platform and slid quietly into the massive 'chair'. It resembled a combination of a cannon and a throne.

A rush of searing pain then pierced Ellie's stomach and caused her to flail back onto the floor with a howl. Her teeth clenched together in a pained wince as the ship's engine began to whir to life. Why hadn't the Engineer killed her like the others? Did he really pity her? Or was he keeping her for other reasons?

A familiar voice interrupted her thoughts and swiftly brought her back to reality,

"Doctor-"

Ellie felt almost offended that David would dare speak to her after what all had happened, but also surprised to hear him talking at all. Her eyes opened partially to glance over at the now decapitated head of the android on her left. Her hands clenched over the waist of her uniform, trying to hold her sliced flesh together through the latex. David's expression was so tranquil as she spat a response to him,

"_What_ _David_?"

Her voice cracked with exasperation as she tried to sit up to get a better view of what was happening. David calmly replied to the injured woman,

"I do not believe this ship has the ability to take off, I had a brief look into the Engine deck earlier and it didn't look promising."

"So what are you saying?"

The artificial man had a tranquil expression on his face as he half smiled to her,

"In simple terms, we are stuck on LV-223. However, I did not get a look at the other ship inside the second pyramid. So there is a chance that it also has a cargo ship similar to this one, but the chances are slim that a ship that is over two thousand years old still has the ability to take off."

No words formed in her throat, the pain in her stomach was too much. The stitches must have come apart when Weyland's mercenary struck her in the abdomen. With a long shaky breath, she leaned back onto the platform, placing her cheek on the steel beam. The cold feeling of it all being over really began to sink in. She had no energy left. She had nothing left to say to David either. There was no point anymore.

The low rumble of the engines hummed beneath the platform, but they didn't sound right. Ellie's deep brown eyes now rested on the Engineer, observing how he brought up the star maps and began prepping the ship for take off. No more tears came, her eyes were now dry; and ached like the rest of her body.

Then, a different voice called to her through her suit transmitter,

"Shaw? Shaw if you're there tell me what the hell's goin' on! The ground is opening up out here!"

Janek's tense voice made her smile slightly, she struggled to speak back to him,

"Captain… You need to go now. We- _I_ was so wrong. The Engineer is trying to take off, but this ship won't make it off the ground, it's too old. And I won't make it out of here…Please… Go. Save what's left of the crew and go back to Earth… Tell everyone what happened here… and to never return, there is only death now…"

The captain seemed to struggle to find words, not believing what he was hearing,

"You sure there's no way for you to get out?"

Ellie smiled weakly and shook her head, even though he couldn't see her,

"No. Captain, you must go. I won't make it I'm afraid. Don't risk these weapons getting onto the Prometheus."

A long pause befell them, and Ellie felt relieved that some of the crew survived. Someone would get out and tell their story. Janek's next words were low and sorrowful,

"All right. I'm very sorry Shaw."

The world then slowly grew fuzzy, the edges of her vision blurred and her body began to relax. All sound seemed to fade away, the figure of the Engineer became one with the massive throne.

Maybe this was the end? The human doctor felt chills run over her skin, most likely from the loss of blood from her abdominal wound. Ellie forced herself to smile as she closed her eyes, there was no hope for her to get her answers now. The sound of metal screeching and some small far away explosions rumbled the ship around her, and then, she let the numbness take her body as she drifted off.

…

Motion. The world was moving beneath her. Hazy eyes opened, seeing she was moving down a hallway. A long corridor with dark ribbed walls was all she could see as her head hung against her left shoulder, loud footsteps accompanied her. She was still alive?

But, something was very wrong.

Ellie lifted her head, realizing someone was carrying her. Thick arms rested under her knees and behind her upper back. A huge, and very pale hand was just inches away from her face, clenching her upper arm and holding her steady. With a shock making it's way up her spine, her head shot toward the face of just who she had feared was holding her. The stern face of the Engineer wasn't focused on her, his eyes were looking down the hall ahead of them. Ellie felt her heart begin to race again, her body growing warm with anxiety, where was he taking her? Why keep her alive?

A bitter taste in her mouth made her furrow her eyebrows together in slight disgust. Had he given her something? Ellie felt an anxious knot form in her stomach thinking of what he could possibly have given her. What were the symptoms? Was it going to help her? Was it even medicine? That had to be it. Ellie stared down at her hands, her body becoming rigid in the alien's arms in fear of what she could possibly have in her system now. The alien then startled her and took a sudden left, entering a dismal looking room with lots of strange machinery inside. Ellie forced herself to look around the room, it resembled a medical infirmary.

Without thinking, her head shot up to see the Engineer's face. That tight knot in her stomach felt like it dropped when she saw him looking right at her. The eye contact made her shiver in his arms. However, He didn't seem phased by it, he simply kept walking and then startled her again by setting her down on an elongated table. Ellie immediately sat up and pulled her arms in to her chest, feeling her muscles start to tremble once again.

"What- What are you doing?"

Ellie shook her head for a moment realizing her words meant nothing to him. The Engineer didn't even turn to look a her as he typed on a panel on the nearby wall, only a few feet away. The android back in the main control room scared her by speaking to her through the transmitter,

"Are you awake Doctor Shaw?"

Ellie's eyes were locked on the Engineer as he piddled around with various foreign controls on the wall, a green glow appearing above some of the buttons. She spoke softly in response to David,

"What's happening?"

"You were unconscious for approximately twelve and a half hours. Captain Janek fled the atmosphere at your command, after I explained some of the details to him. I haven't heard any contact from them for over ten hours. The Engineer, as you call them, proceeded in trying to take off. One of the ship's engines failed and it seemed to fall apart. After disappearing for a couple hours for what I presumed to be for maintenance, he returned, sending out many distress signals. After getting no response for another number of hours, he then decided to come observe your injury. He had gotten something from another room on the ship, and put the liquid from the tube in our mouth, forcing you to swallow it. You still weren't moving, so he picked you up, and carried you off to what I assumed was the medical bay."

Ellie felt a rush of panic come over her as the Engineer walked back toward her, his expression rather unemotional. She fidgeted nervously as the Engineer stood beside where she was sitting, nearly solid black eyes locked on hers. His right hand reached out and grabbed her shoulder, eyes falling to her waist and the coagulating blood on her suit. Ellie squirmed as the Engineer slowly began to pull at the top of the space suit, breaking the zipper and yanking the latex down over her shoulders.

Her hands flew to his, attempting to grab him and push his hands away. The Engineer grabbed her ams and pushed her down onto her back on the long table, overpowering her easily. Ellie let out a yelp as he used one hand to hold both of hers down, and pulled down the rest of the top of the uniform with his free hand. It revealed the gauze under garnets she wore beneath her space suit, and her blood tarnished skin and open wound. She instantly stopped resisting when she saw the severity of the wound on her stomach. Only two of the staples were left on the edge of the gaping slit on her stomach. Nausea found her once again as she stared at all the blood on her lower body. The entire inside of her uniform had been filled with blood leaking out of the gash. She was too focused on her wound to focus on the Engineer finishing cutting the space suit off her legs with a small surgical knife she hadn't seen him pick up from the nearby surgical table. The suit was now cut up, bloody, useless latex, and tossed aside on the floor.

Ellie remained laying down on her back, staring down at her cut belly. The Engineer had released her hands to cut the legs off the uniform, and it allowed her fingers to delicately touch the numb skin around the wound. Her eyes moved to the side of the Engineer's face as he observed her wound himself, a look of disgust appeared on his face as he looked closely at the wound. Ellie had mixed feelings about the situation, was he going to save her? Was he going to dissect her like a laboratory frog? She wasn't sure.

The pale being then stood upright, towering over the injured woman. With a quick movement, he typed on an unseen keyboard on the side of the table she was on. A sudden metallic groan made her look up at the ceiling, panels were moving and some machinery came slowly moving down towards her. Ellie flinched as though she was going to move, but the Engineer moved behind her and grabbed her thin wrists, pulling her back. The alien held her arms above her head, holding her down as the machinery dropped down just a couple inches above her body. Ellie protested verbally and wiggled to get free. A hard grip on her wrists kept her laying down as the machine began making noises and more smaller appendages came out. Ellie froze as it sprayed her wound with a dark green chemical that leaked into the slit on her belly. She felt no pain, whatever he had given her earlier made all the pain fade away. A long pair of needle nose plucked the few remaining staples from the wound, and pulled them back up inside the machine. A larger set of arms dropped down with a thin paper looking layer stretched out between them. The sheet was rubbery and flexible looking, reminding her of a thin layer of rubber.

Ellie twisted around resisting the Engineer as the layer of thin tissue was draped over her wound by the bony looking arms of the machine. After it was trimmed a bit by some similar arms of the machine, the entire group of 'arms' retreated into the main section of the machine. It reminded her so much of the medical pod on Vickers personal capsule. Ellie's chest rose and fell as she hyperventilated, staring in shock as the rubbery flesh began to 'soak' into her own skin. Ellie flailed around as the machine completely retreated to the ceiling from whence it came, but the Engineer was far too strong for her flailing. The alien held her there with ease until the artificial skin completely absorbed into her own flesh, covering the wound and making it seem to fade. He then released her arms and walked across the room into a smaller closet looking section of the room.

She rushed to sit up, her hands flew to her stomach as soon as he freed her and nervous fingers danced across the new skin that sealed the wound. Ellie didn't understand how fake skin could possibly do such a thing? Were these aliens utilizing stem cells in some way to create a skin to heal wounds of the flesh?

When an object flew toward the table Ellie jumped and yanked her feet in towards her chest, trying to figure out what was just tossed towards her. Just a pile of cloth. A gunmetal grey colored cloth was tossed her way and now hung halfway off the side of the table. She looked down at it, puzzled. Her eyes slowly lifted to the Engineer that stood near the door he had just come out of. His stern gaze met her confused one, and a tiny nod made her stare in disbelief at the sudden direct communication. The small acknowledgement from him made her realize he _was_ actually trying to help her, but she still didn't understand why. Ellie opened her mouth to speak to him, but he turned away from her and crossed his arms. She stared at the back of his hairless head, curious as to what his actions meant. He was still, shifting his weight to his right side and staring straight ahead of him into the small closet.

A dainty hand brushed some of her own messy red hair out of her face as she eyed the space jockey. With a small scoot she moved to the edge of her table, allowing her legs to hang off the edge of the table. After a few awkward moments, the sound of a shallow sigh escaped the Engineer's mouth as he hesitantly turned and glanced back at the woman. Their eyes met, and a confused expression appeared on his face as he looked at her staring cluelessly back at him. Ellie wasn't sure what to do now, or what he wanted. The burly alien stalked over to the table and grabbed the grey cloth and pulled a small white towel out of it. He held the white towel out to her and looked into her eyes, expecting a reaction out of her. With a hesitant hand, she cautiously took the white cloth from him and eyed it. It had an almost oily feel to it, but then it clicked what he wanted her to do.

Ellie slowly started rubbing the cloth across her dirty skin, and the dried blood came off easily. She then hopped off the table to stand up, making the Engineer take a quick step back away from her. Ellie felt a small smile appear on her lips as she noticed this, was he afraid of her?

She dismissed his tiny reaction and after cleaning her skin off with the small towel, the large alien held out the larger grey heap of cloth to her. Ellie then realized it was a type of robe. A HUGE robe, fit for an Engineer. Relief came over her as she quickly wrapped herself in the enormous robe, feeling better now that she was at least properly clothed. The Engineer nodded to her and then walked around the table, expecting her to follow. Ellie piped up as she immediately trotted after him like a child after it's mother,

"Why did you save me?"

The Engineer didn't even flinch at her words and continued walking, right out of the medical infirmary and down the creepy ribbed corridor. Ellie's head was on a swivel as she followed the Engineer through the ship. There was no telling what could be lurking here if the ship is two thousand years old, maybe the snake things that had killed Millburn had gotten out of that chamber. Scary thought. Ellie couldn't believe what was happening. This alien had just slaughtered the entire crew, and for whatever reason had saved only her. Her pace had to be quick as she followed after his long footsteps, holding the robe closed and keeping one hand on where her gaping wound had been. It still ached, but it was not near as painful as before. At least it was closed up and not bleeding anymore.

Within a few moments they reached the main control room again, and the annoyingly pleasant sound of David's voice rung out.

"You look much better Dr. Shaw."

Ellie stopped walking as the Engineer made his way over and sat in the control seat, piddling around on the keyboard. She assumed he was searching for a response from the distress signal he sent out earlier. The muscular woman cautiously made her way around the huge steel platform and over closer to David,

"He's searching for a signal?"

David's decapitated head couldn't turn to look at her as he responded,

"Yes. I see your wound is almost healed?"

"Yeah, he put me under a machine that put an artificial skin layer on top of my wound, and it just… Absorbed into my own skin. I think it may be the work of successful stem cell research on their part."

David's face didn't change from his usual placid expression,

"A predictably superior medical treatment, I would have expected nothing less. If I-"

"Ask him why he saved me."

The demand seemed to throw David off, his eyebrows lifted in surprise,

"Does it really matter why?"

Ellie huffed and clenched her jaw, he always had to question what she thought,

"Yes, it matters to _me_."

"Are you sure you want _me_ to speak to him?"

Ellie sat down and held her knees against her chest, nodding as she replied,

"Ask him David, he won't understand me, and there's not much more he can do to you if you piss him off."

The Engineer seemed focused on the holographic computer before him, repeatedly sending out the same recorded distress signal. He visibly looked stressed. Ellie's eyes locked on the Engineer as David spoke in the guttural language, the dark eyes of the alien moved from the computer to the two of them. A chill ran over her skin at the eye contact, she shifted uncomfortably in his glare. The Engineer was quiet for a few moments before going back to working on the distress signal. His voice was much deeper than David's, intimidatingly deeper at that. Ellie had no patience and looked down at David for the response, the severed head spoke calmly,

"He said; He knew you were injured, appeared to be enslaved by the others, and posed no threat to him. It isn't like their kind to kill an already injured female."

Ellie shook her head and fumbled over her words,

"What about Ford?"

David made a small 'humph' sound before he answered,

"I suppose it was because she was helping Mr. Weyland, and you had a mercenary's weapon in your face. You were kneeling too."

Ellie then hopped up, feeling grateful for being alive and having someone side with her for once. Charlie had always been out for his own questions and ideas, putting hers second. That was one major issue with the two of them, Charlie was her polar opposite. He always put his own views and ideas ahead of others, and everyone else came second to his type A personality. Vickers and all of the others, except Janek and the pilots, had been out for Weyland's interests, definitely not out for her. Now that the survivors were gone, and she knew there was no way she would get off the planet, it gave her a little power. This was all her, and the Engineer. Perhaps there was a chance to have her questions answered. Might as well try. After having all of those individuals shove her aside, and basically bringing her along for almost no real purpose, it was nice to finally have someone stick up for her.

Someone had finally swooped in and saved her.

David called out to her as she crossed the platform and made her way over to the left side of the busy space jockey. Ellie ignored David's warnings for approaching the alien, she hopped down and stood to the left of the huge chair. The alien didn't acknowledge her at all as she shyly made her way up beside him. Ellie knew she couldn't say anything that would make sense to him. She owed him her life, she would not have woken up if it weren't for him. For whatever his reason, he saved her life. In her mind, she most definitely owed him.

A dainty hand reached out, and was gently set down on the Engineer's left shoulder. The contact made him freeze, and then slowly turn his head to look at her. Body language was all she could use in this situation, he wouldn't understand her words. Her small hand squeezed slightly as she half smiled down to him, he probably couldn't feel it through the thick suit he wore. Her voice was almost a whisper, because she was incredibly nervous about approaching him like this,

"Thank you."

A kind nod of her head and a smile as she motioned with her free hand toward her waist seemed to get the message across. An almost unnoticeable nod from the Engineer made her relax, and the corners of his mouth lifted out of the usual straight expression. It almost resembled a haphazard smile, he then turned back and continued working on the ranges of the signals.

Just as he went back to the computer, a loud metal slam was heard outside the the control room. Ellie gasped and whirled around to face the ominous door. The sound boomed through the ship, the Engineer shot to his feet and fixed his eyes on the door. Ellie felt her knees shake as another heavy strike to the door rung out, what could possibly be out there? Ellie yelled as the turned her head and looked back at the blond android, her eyes pleading for an answer,

"What's happening?!"

[][][]

Sorry for any mistakes,

all tips and thoughts appreciated!


	2. Escape

Thanks to all the reviewers!

I appreciate the feedback from the guests as well, even though I can't respond to them in a message. I really like the orientation of the centered text, it's easier to read, I think that may be an adjustment on the computer view settings. [to the guest that couldn't read it.]

I'm surprised that so many people are interested in the Engineer x Shaw ship, and it makes me excited to write more.

I love the feedback!

Enjoy!

-[2]-

"All right. I'm very sorry Shaw…"

The words were bitter in his mouth as he cut the transmission. The pilots on either side of him were dead silent, staring hard at their controls. A lean blond woman stood behind Janek's control chair, her tone was not nearly as caring,

"You heard her Captain. Go, before we lose any more crew members."

Meredith said nothing else, her coldness making the cabin quiet. The captain sat back in his chair, staring at the controls as the woman left the main control deck. Of course the young Weyland woman wouldn't stick around for any emotional turmoil, emotions weren't something she enjoyed sharing with the others.

Ravel and Chance then cautiously looked back at their captain, he looked as though he was struggling with his thoughts, but only for a moment. Janek then spoke, making the two pilots perk up,

"Prep for departure, there's nothing else we can do here."

Nothing for her, he meant.

Ravel instantly did what he was told turned back to his control panel and began preparing the engines for take off. The other pilot wasn't so eager, he stared at Janek for a few moments, his expression one of remorse. Chance shifted his weight to turn a little more towards the captain, he knew this was wrong. He couldn't bear the thought of leaving someone alive on LV-223 while they all were able to return home. This wasn't something he could so easily come to terms with. He spoke up reluctantly, as if trying not to offend anyone,

"We're... really gonna' leave her here?"

The captain looked up, a stern expression on his face as he responded to the question,

"You heard Shaw, there's nothing we can do. I don't wanna risk taking any of that shit home with us. Do you-"

A shrill scream echoed through the Prometheus, making the flight crew jump and look behind them. It was definitely Meredith. Janek hopped up off of his chair and immediately ran toward the main doorway, but a female body came sprinting around the corner and almost ran into him. Her blue eyes were wild in a panic, she was breathing in quick gasps,

"Eject my personal capsule! One of them is on board! Eject it! Eject it now!"

The captain had no time to form any sensible response and she pushed at him, screaming for him to eject the life support pod. Again, Ravel was the first to jump into action, immediately beginning the deployment of the pod. Meredith knocked passed the captain and ran up to the pilot deploying it, pushing his shoulder with her hand,

"Hurry up!"

The sound of heavy metal sliding made the blond woman turn and look back towards the doorway. The captain stood awkwardly in the doorway, as if his presence there wouldn't allow anything to come through. With a sound almost like a cannon firing, the life support pod fell away from the main ship. Meredith darted passed the pilots to the large set of windows on the front of the ship, hands immediately on the class. She watched as the silvery capsule landed on the rocky surface of the planet. The prometheus proceeded slowly upwards, away from the surface of the planet.

Chance and Ravel then continued preparing the ship for its long voyage, not paying any real attention to the frightened woman that took steps back behind them. The dark skinned man startled her by grabbing her arm and turning her around,

"Vickers, are you all right? Did it touch you?"

An offended scowl from her gave him his answer as she yanked her arm back away from him, she hissed at the captain,

"_No_. It didn't."

…

[a/n: This is now 12 and a half hours passed, after Ellie was passed out, to avoid any confusion.]

An echoing boom made her cringe and step back, her lower back hitting the side of the steel platform as she tried to get away from the door. The Engineer was now standing in front of the door, staring at it with a terror in his eyes that was all too human. Something seemed to click inside the alien's head, and he turned and darted over to the frightened woman. A large hand reached out and pushed her, as if telling her to move. The pushing from the alien was so strong, she nearly fell over. She stumbled for a few moments, but it didn't take long to realize what he wanted.

The two of them ran around the side of the platform towards another large pair of steel doors she hadn't really taken notice of. She almost couldn't keep up with his huge stride, she was still a couple steps behind him. As she ran, to her right, she realized David was still there. Her heart skipped a beat, instantly knowing she had to bring him. She would have no way of communicating with the Engineer if David wasn't there, the android would be beneficial to them to keep around. He also was a familiar face, making her feel comfortable somehow in this foreign world.

The Engineer didn't notice her stop following, and he rushed up to the large door and typed frantically on a panel beside the ribbed doorway. The huge steel doors creaked open, revealing a long, and very dark, corridor. A loud boom, followed by a cracking noise made him whirl around, looking in the direction of the noise. The huge door was coming apart, the bone like material was splintering almost like wood. Within a couple seconds he looked back to the platform to see the human carrying the head of the synthetic, and attempting to drag his body.

Ellie yanked on David's body, barely dragging it along the floor. Another creaking slam made pieces of the other door break apart, and fall to the floor. The red head woman briefly glanced back at the confused Engineer, he looked in disbelief at her. The expression was so human, so natural. She continued yanking and looked back as David's body, the android spoke in that usual kind way,

"Doctor, as much as I appreciate this, it isn't necessary. Your _offspring_ is almost in the room now, you should run."

The way he said that word twisted in her mind like a poison, how dare he say something like that. Her bitter thoughts flew out the door as she felt herself slip on some of the white hydraulic fluid leaking from David's body. The same feeling befell her as when she had fallen in front of the Engineer when she first arrived here and tried to flee.

She didn't see that, behind her, the Engineer turned to run down the hall without them, but hesitated. Something changed his mind. The pale being turned back, and sprinted as fast as his large body would let him to the woman struggling to pull along the android. The splitting sound of the bone like doorway echoed throughout he main section, a large beige colored tentacle erupted from the doorway. It immediately stretched around and began feeling the ground and the control chair. Just as Ellie shouted in frustration and fear, trying to get to her feet and pull David, the muscular alien appeared for her aid.

Huge arms easily scooped up David's body and placed it in his left arm like a football. The confused woman trotted along as the Engineer grabbed her arm and yanked her roughly after him down the newly opened corridor. It was all happening so fast. As they ran, the hand of the Engineer released her arm as he opened more doors of the hall and closed them immediately after they ran through.

She couldn't look back. Couldn't look to see if the alien was coming after them, if it was moving at all. The cold air stung her lips and throat as she ran a few steps behind the large pale figure. She didn't count how many doors they ran through, there were so many. There were also bodies strewn out on the floor occasionally on the floor in some halls. She followed as he cut a sharp right and entered a room, just off the hall. Once they entered another large room the Engineer stopped running and leaned against the door after it closed, dropping David's body to the ground like a pile of garbage on his left. The android's head was set down a little more delicate on a counter-top looking surface beside the body.

Ellie then doubled over, hands on her knees, heaving for air. How had something so big gotten here? How had they missed it? Then what David had said earlier popped back into her mind.

_Her offspring. _

"Oh God…"

She breathed, the thought of that tentacle thing coming out of her body making her feel ill. Janek and the crew must have found it in the med pod and ejected it out of the prometheus. An artificially kind voice made her look up at the blond man's head,

"I appreciate you salvaging my body, are you all right?"

The Engineer shot a glare at David, his voice seeming to somehow irk the alien. The red head noticed the alien's quirk about not liking David. It must be that David was not real, not a true human being. Simply, a creation, of their creation. He must have considered the android to be lesser somehow, since he was simply a tool made by his people's creation. Her response was hushed, she didn't want to upset the Engineer since he had just saved them a second time,

"Yes I'm all right. Where are we?"

As she finished her statement, the alien had stopped panting and stood upright. He didn't make a sound as he walked between them, walking into the main area of the large room. Ellie turned and observed the new segment of the ship, she hadn't been in this room yet. The infection of Charlie and the deaths of Fifield and Millburn had put a hold on their exploration of the pyramid and ship. There were many places they hadn't yet explored. Lord knows what else could be inside this pyramid. David chimed in response,

"I believe this is a main section of living quarters."

With those words, the doctor noticed there were smaller individual doors around the right side of the oval shaped room. The countertop to her left seemed to stretch around to the first door ahead of her, and here was a lower section in the middle of the room. A single step down, and two curved couch looking structures surrounded a large circular platform. Lots of controls decorated the sides of the circular platform, perhaps it was a computer.

She watched as the Engineer sat himself down on the left couch-like structure. He leaned down, fidgeting with a few buttons on the side of the platform. A hologram similar to the one in the control room appeared, flickering a few times as it came up completely. David spoke to her once more, interrupting her fascination with the technology,

"It appears to be akin to a personal computer."

Ellie almost whispered her response, realizing what he was going to do now. She approached the busy alien slowly, looking like she was in a trance.

"He's trying to call for help…"

The Engineer made her heart flutter as he suddenly spoke, his words deep and guttural. She listened intently as she made her way to his side, observing him and the way he spoke. She still couldn't understand why he had saved her. Was he afraid of being alone? Was it really that he saw her as distressed with the others? Or was he simply preventing her and David from becoming vessels for that creature to use to create more of itself? None of these questions had solid answers. His answer earlier hadn't satisfied her curiosity. She cautiously sat down beside him, making him glance at her briefly. His large eyes gave her chills.

He blinked once at her and then returned to the computer, not saying a word. She could hear the sound of the computer replaying what he had just said, his large eyes locked on the dancing constellations of the hologram. They had no option, they had to play the waiting game now, she knew it. He was calling for a rescue. How he would be able to contact them after two thousand years she wasn't sure. She had already come to terms with the thought of being stranded here when she told Janek to leave with the remains of the crew. She wanted her answers, even if it meant she would die here on the planet with what she thought was the last Engineer.

It wasn't as bitter of a pill as she thought it would be. Dying here. She didn't plan on getting pulled apart, or being impregnated by the tentacle offspring of hers, but dying here naturally wasn't hard to accept as long as she found her answers. This Engineer was the key to what she had been searching for her whole life. Dying here seemed like a small price to pay if she could find out what the reason was for the human's creation, and then planned destruction.

"David, I need you to translate for me."

The android pleasantly smiled, that same damn programmed smile, at the thought of being needed by a human. Her head turned to face him, a glint of excitement in her eyes.

"Of course Doctor. What would you like me to ask him?"

The Engineer's focus remained on the computer as the two of them spoke to each other. He had no clue what they were saying, but there was no point trying to figure out such a primitive tongue in his mind. That broken android was the only means of communication between he and the female he had saved, this was the only reason he even bothered helping her rescue the synthetic human. Ellie shifted so she could face the muscular alien fully, so she could read his expressions as she asked him these questions. Hopefully he wouldn't be offended or get angry. There was no way to know how he would react. She asked David to translate anyway, deciding this may be one of her only opportunities to sit down and speak with him, before that creature got a hold of them anyway.

"Ask him why his people created us."

"That's a fairly broad and forward question doctor."

He would always question what she said, it was programmed into him.

"Please just ask him."

The synthetic somehow formed sentences with what only sounded like noises from his throat, immediately getting the attention of the preoccupied alien. The Engineer shifted so he could look back at David, his dark eyes looking at him with an unreadable expression. His eyes then moved back to Ellie, realizing that the artificial person was simply translating for her. She could see the gears were turning inside the alien's mind, a light anxiety made her feel jittery. After a few silent moments and an awkwardly extended eye contact, the Engineer spoke up. He must have decided how to articulate his response, so not to be condescending or rude. The answer was long, and made him look away, seeming to be in thought of how to explain such an old event.

David instantly began deciphering his words for the doctor,

"Your creation was not by him, or his people as a whole, but by a group of scientists. It was so many thousands of years ago, and were are many different ideas and theories about why your kind was created. These scientists were focused on creation as a key to immortality, and a way for them to pass on their genes to organisms on other planets. With many planets being inhabited by humanoids like themselves, they could be certain that their likelihood would live on, and evolve further-"

She instantly interrupted him, the response seeming too vague to satisfy her thirst for a true answer.

"Why do we look different then? Why not send out groups of his own kind to colonize such planets?"

After a translation of the question, the Engineer responded once more, and the android began speaking again.

"Humans were designed with the same DNA, but had to be created to survive on Earth. The atmosphere was very different, and therefore humans had to be designed slightly different. After the creation of Humans, the Engineers returned to give a little 'boost' to these slow progressing ancient civilizations."

Ellie looked over at David, her eyebrows pressed together curiously,

"A boost?"

The synthetic continued,

"Your technological advancements in that time were moving at a painfully slow rate, and his people decided to step in and help these developing civilizations in order to ensure the survival of the humans as a whole. But once they did such a thing, and observed the development of your kind, they realized they had created a monster. War ravaged between countries, the technology was used against your own people, you destroyed the other species inhabiting the Earth, and the planet was going to crumble beneath you. A debate among his own people broke out about whether or not the Humans should be destroyed before they ruined the blue planet, and the superiors voted to eradicate humans in order to salvage the life supporting planet of Earth. Few planets can support such complex life forms, and Humans were just abusing the planet they were given. This bio weapon was designed to infect your water systems, and wipe the slate clean on Earth, so the Engineers could perhaps start over. "

Black eyes rested on Ellie's teared up brown ones. The answer made her feel ill with guilt and disgust for her own race. Everything the Engineer had said was true. Humans fought amongst each other over religion, territory, and resources, it was so imbalanced. Her hands clenched tight on the fabric covering her lap. She fought the tears as she spoke to David, her eyes not leaving the Engineer's,

"We… We can change. Humans can change, they just need… need your help now, more than ever…You must _teach_ us."

Her words were hushed, and her throat was hard with a knot from her fighting the urge to cry. This wasn't the answer she had expected, but she wasn't really sure what she had expected. There weren't many reasons that his people could have had to create them, but it was the hardest thing in the world to hear him tell her like it was so easy for him. Like it was just a historical event and nothing more. Creation was trivial, and easy, according to the way she heard it.

David then translated her quiet words for the Engineer, he didn't look surprised and responded to David. The android translated cooly,

"It wasn't his decision to make, there were many on his home planet that would agree with you, Doctor. He was just an assistant military officer sent to help supervise and protect the scientists. The plan to eradicate the humans was actually abandoned when the bio weapon was accidentally unleashed on his own people while preparing the ship. His home colony must have abandoned LV-223 completely so not to risk infection of the main population. The devastating loss caused his people to completely abandon this terrible weapon. But he has no idea where his people are now, if they even are on the same home planet anymore, not that anyone he was related to was left alive after such a long time."

"If they're even still alive."

Her head slowly dropped down and stared at her lap. She felt happy to have her answer, but somewhat crushed to know the reason behind the plan to destroy the race. The Engineer kept looking down at her, the creaking sound of the ship the only sound between them. The wind hitting the side of the pyramid made a low howling sound, another storm was blowing in. David broke the silence between them,

"Another storm is coming in it seems."

Ellie felt a small smile creep up on her face, he was trying to ease the tension between them, how he was programmed to. At least she had some of her answers, content filled her heart. She knew now. She understood, but had mixed feelings. She wasn't sure how to react now, knowing her creators wanted to destroy them for abusing the planet they were given. She hadn't planned anything out after she got her answers. A thousand questions flooded her mind, but she still wasn't certain what else she really wanted to know. Maybe it was best to let this sink in first, before she asked more emotionally overwhelming questions.

A sudden noise from the computer made the Engineer and Ellie jump, both of them immediately looking at the computer. The doctor couldn't believe she could hear the distant sound of voices, the alien beside her seemed to light up, talking quickly in response to the voice.

He had actually made _contact_.

There was no way. The confused woman shook her head, looking at the Engineer's face for answers. David made a small huff sound as he commented on what was happening,

"He did made contact, I'm surprised. After so many hours, the signal actually hit a beacon on a nearby ship. Sounds like an ore supply vessel from what I understand."

She perked up, unsure of how to respond. She blinked a few times, taking in what this meant. Were they going to be rescued by his people? Would the rescue include her and David as well? The Engineer almost appeared to be smiling, relieved to even hear one of his kind. After a couple minutes of talking, the Engineer seemed to relax, content with whatever the response was. The right arm of the Engineer reached up and put a hand on her shoulder, scaring her and making her lean away slightly. The Engineer locked eyes with her and nodded reassuringly, as if it was possible they were going to make it off this hellish rock, alive. This was something she hadn't considered until now, she was going to potentially make it off this planet?

His hand was huge and somewhat comforting, giving her shoulder a small squeeze as he nodded to her. She didn't know how to react to his gesture, and simply froze. It was an unexpected direct contact between the two of them. The Engineer seemed to realize that it made her uncomfortable and he immediately removed his hand, only looking at her for a few seconds more before returning to the computer.

Ellie decided to disregard the gesture and then turned around to face David's remains,

"What's happening now?"

The Engineer proceeded to speak to the computer, having a conversation with what she assumed was another Engineer.

"I believe he is asking them for a rescue, they are not too far from LV-223. But it would at least take sixteen hours."

Her eyes were wide, wider than David had ever remembered. She simply couldn't believe this all was happening. It happened so fast, the slaughter of the crew, the attempted take off, and her deadly offspring returning to find someone to prey on. She remembered she had been asleep for almost half the day, and that would make sense, but to her, it all happened too quickly.

This was really happening. A hesitant smile appeared on her face as she looked at David's severed head. The android pushed his eyebrows together,

"What's the matter Doctor Shaw? I thought this is what you wanted? To meet your creators."

Her thoughts were far away from this room, wondering a multitude of things. What were the women Engineers like? Did the entire species still look the same after two thousand years? What would happen to her and David if they were brought along? What was their home planet like? What was their government like? Their families? Their animals?

This sliver of hope. This tiny idea that she may survive and learn everything she can about this culture she had always dreamed of, slid through her mind like a virus. These thoughts infected every cell in her body, she wanted more answers. She was going to the the first human being to document this momentous discovery, and her message had to get back. Her eyes rested on David, and then it clicked.

If she could bring David, he could literally record every second of the experience by just being there. The pounding in her chest made her body warm with excitement, nearly forgetting all the death and betrayal that had just occurred. Everything in her life seemed so insignificant compared to this moment. Her head slowly turned and she looked at the Engineer, this was her opportunity, not anyone else could make this discovery. How can one stand in the light of discovery, and not act?

Another response on the computer made her fall quiet, and just watch for a few minutes as the Engineer's conversation seemed to come to an end. The huge alien then leaned back and rested his head against the back of the couch. She couldn't help but eye him as he did this, she hadn't had much time to take a close look at him and all the similarities they had shared.

His face was perfectly chiseled, like he was a Grecian God. His skin was pale and nearly completely white like a marble, his eyes were now closed as he took a few slow breaths of relief. He seemed so much more human to her now, she felt she could really understand his body language now. There was some type of connection.

"Something pique your interest Dr. Shaw?"

David almost startled her, breaking the silence like that. She shrugged, keeping her eyes on the relaxing Engineer.

"I was admiring how human he is."

The sound of howling wind lowly echoed in the halls again, it made her flinch at the sound. She then remembered the creature they had been running from, and she whipped her head back towards the door. Her heartbeat picked up a little as she stared at the large doorway,

"I wouldn't worry too much Dr. Shaw. I don't believe that creature can move too quickly, nor can it open or break through every door it encounters. We should be safe until it figures a new way in."

That wasn't comforting at all. A new way in? Ellie shook her head and took a deep breath, leaning back against the couch like the Engineer. Although she had passed out for over twelve hours, she still felt exhausted. She had spent so much energy running and stressing out that it drained her. Her head lazily turned to the left, eyeing the Engineer once more. His eyes were closed, his arms were now stretched out on either side of him, resting on the back of the couch. His right hand was incredibly close to her face, so close she could probably reach out and touch it with her nose if she scooted forward a bit.

His large muscular chest rose and fell slowly, he must be exhausted too, waking up and then running about the ship…and killing the crew. Her curiosity was constantly overwhelming her, she forced herself to sit up. Her eyes moving from his face to his hand, trying to make sure she didn't wake him. She had always been like this, wondering about everything, her father always told her it was an endearing quality. Charlie never seemed to think that.

It sort of bothered Charlie that she constantly questioned things that, to him, didn't' need to be asked about. They both wondered about the human race and their creation, but she asked about _everything_. As much as her boyfriend loved her, it still sometimes caused tension between them when she asked about everything he was doing all the time. It was hard for her to stop, being so naturally curious. Almost nosy.

Cautious fingers hovered around the Engineer's large hand as she leaned close to it. The blueish-purple veins under his almost translucent skin made her want to keep studying him, it was something so different and new. Ever so gently, she touched the top of his hand with her index and middle finger tips on her right hand. Her eyes flickered from his face to where she was touching, still trying not to wake him. She had to poke, probe, and question everything, it was engrained in her nature. A true scientist's mind never sleeps.

David sat quiet, observing her actions. This was part of the human nature he did not question, he had also wondered about things he had never experienced or explored. Looking at Ellie's dreams was also something he couldn't explain. He just wanted to know, it was an insufferable thirst for knowledge. A small smile appeared on his face, the dried white fluid cracking on his cheek. He admired her, and her starving curiosity. It was a rare quality they shared.

A twitch of his hand made her nearly gasp in surprise, she froze for a few seconds to make sure he was still sleeping.

Eyes are closed. Continue.

Her fingertips explored the smooth surface of his skin, it was unbelievably soft, and completely hairless. A smile appeared on her lips as she leaned in close to look at the blood vessels on his fingers. His hand was huge compared to hers, she felt rather tiny and fragile sitting next to him. Her eyes shifted to his huge chest rising and falling in a perfect rhythm. Long slow breaths filled his muscular body as she checked out his uniform. The same ribbed features of the ship were evident on his uniform, it was a dark silvery grey color. With a small shift of her weight, she was able to lean down and take a closer look. The bony exterior ribs were rough, and jagged, she wasn't sure if it was supposed to be this way. Perhaps it was from battle? Aging?

A very distant metal clang made her flinch and duck her head. It could be the wind from the storm, or that creature making it's way through the ship. They were trapped like rats in this room, until the supposed 'rescue' happened. As she regained her composure and sat up, she realized the Engineer was now staring at her. She squeaked instead of forming actual words, her spine immediately straightened up. Looking at him, her cheeks blushed a slight pink. She just got caught huddling over him and poking around on his suit. The Engineer then made a rather amused expression, like he expected such a thing from her.

"S-Sorry!"

She stated hurriedly, smiling sheepishly up at him. The Engineer seemed to just brush off what had just happened and sit up, rubbing his face. She then scooted back away a couple inches, realizing she was awkwardly close to the alien. The pale being turned and looked her up and down once, then stood up. She glanced up at him with a questioning look, he made a motion to his own body and looked at her as if she understood what he meant. With no clue as to what he meant, the Engineer then walked passed her and over to the door of the large room. She stood up and stared as he peered out of the small window near the top of the door. The burly space jockey reached over to the control panel, and opened the door.

Her stomach dropped and she took a reluctant step forward, as if she'd beg him not to go. If he left the safety of this room would he come back? Why leave the room? What could he possibly need? The Engineer looked back at her emotionlessly, and gave her that same tiny nod.

"N-No! Wait a minute!"

She sputtered as she took another step towards the alien, putting her hand up towards him pleadingly. The Engineer looked at her for just a moment stoically, then turned away from her and exited the room, closing the large door behind him. The doctor then rushed over and jumped up on her toes, trying to look out of the door,

"W-Where are you going?!"

[][][]


	3. Savior

When I started this, I figured I'd lose interest quick… but I haven't. :D Hope everyone is enjoying reading it as much as I love writing it.

Aaaand after receiving a couple complaints about the orientation of the text, I decided I'll change it. I liked the way the centered looked, but if everybody can read it easier this way, then it's fine.

Enjoy!

-[3]-

Three hours.

It had been over three hours since she had last seen the Engineer. Ellie couldn't help but pace around. She had already picked over the counter top, and all the random strange objects strewn across it. She felt hungry, but wouldn't dare try anything without the Engineer being back. She had paced the room many times, laid down and tried to relax, but couldn't. The curious doctor even poked through the small doorways, and the tiny rooms they led to. Each smaller doorway, led to a personal bedroom-like area. It had a cot looking structure, and a small table. Nothing really worth noting.

She had no idea where he had gone, or what he was doing. She wasn't even sure if he was coming back, but his small nod made her think he would. David tried repeatedly to comfort her, explaining that he just was probably getting supplies. No matter what he said, it didn't matter to her. It was dangerous out there, and this small fear in her heart wasn't something David cold truly appreciate it.

She was now laying on the couch in a huff, her arms supporting her head and neck. This couch structure wasn't very comfortable, and it made her back ache. Her eyes were locked on the intricate ribs of the ceiling, she just wondered what he could be doing. If he was even okay.

All of these thoughts buzzing in her head made her nervous, she didn't want to entertain the idea that the Engineer could have abandoned her. Depressing thought.

The sudden opening of the doors made her jerk upwards and leap to her feet, eyes on the Engineer. He had something large in his arms, but she ignored it as she made her way up to him. He seemed almost surprised to see her.

"Where have you been?"

Her words meant nothing as the Engineer slowly set down the large folded objects in his arms. Her eyes were locked on his as he stood up again, towering over her. He rolled his heavy shoulders around, stretching out the muscles as he straightened his posture. After a few quiet moments, his eyes fell to hers.

The alien then seemed to take a sudden interest in something on her head. He carefully reached out and very hesitantly, very gently, touched the hair on her head. Her body tensed up at the contact. She made no movement, but was tickled that the alien was so fascinated by her. He too must be curious, like her. His strong fingers slowly felt around her head, ruffling her hair. His expression seemed to fall to confusion, like he didn't understand what he was feeling. Although this made her nervous, she decided to see what he did, and how he reacted. It was only fair she let him explore like she did to him earlier.

The huge hand covered the side of her head as he ran it over her hair, smoothing it down. The Engineer then took a half step forward, making her feel more rigid in front of him. She still felt slightly nervous about being so close to him, especially after watching him slaughter her crew members so easily. His hand was warm, like the hand of a man. Well, that wasn't fair to think, he had the same DNA as her, so technically speaking, he was a man.

A man? What an odd thought.

The towering space jockey then removed his hand, making her furrow her eyebrows together in a questioning way. She dismissed her thoughts of him as a man as she observed his new actions. His huge body sunk down, his right knee holding his weight as it settled on the ground. He was now down on one knee in front of her, making him just a tiny bit shorter than her now.

Ellie stared for a few moments, confused. David stared at them as best he could from the angle he faced. The android was wondering about the situation as well.

She reluctantly reached out to the kneeling Engineer, his eyes seemed to be looking passed her. He looked so… Tranquil. He was just going to let her touch him? He seemed to understand she was as curious as he was, and it baffled her to see that he felt the same way. She knew it shouldn't confuse her, the thirst for exploration was a quality they both had. Regardless of the reason, this was an opportunity to take a closer look at him.

Ever so gently, she put her hands on the sides of his face and traced her finger tips over his jaw and scalp. This skin was smooth and soft like on his hand, she couldn't believe how perfect it was. It was warm too, despite the fact it looked cooler than human skin. Her hands ran over the back of his head gently, her eyes following the perfect curve of his skull. He didn't move, it almost seemed like he was holding his breath because he was so still. A part of her wondered whether he was as nervous as she was.

The dainty palms of her hands slowly moved over his skin on his jaw, and onto the sides of his neck. The collar of the uniform was almost perfectly seamless, but it was rougher than his skin. These space suits seemed like a second skin for them, a small smile curved on her lips as she admired the profound masculine features on his face. She didn't, however, dare put her hands on his face, for fear of crossing any boundaries. His brow rested low above his eyes, giving him a naturally aggressive looking expression. She didn't notice herself leaning in closer, looking at the bone structure of his face in detail. High cheekbones protruded out under his eyes, giving him a slightly elegant appearance.

The Engineer then made her recoil and step back as he suddenly pushed himself back up to a standing position. It a was brief observation on her part, but nevertheless very intriguing.

She smiled up at him as he looked down to her,

"Thank you."

…

After their awkward moment together, they had sat down on the couch structure. While the Engineer fiddled around with the computer, Ellie had dozed off. Nightmares plagued her sleep. Scenes of Charlie burning alive and laying beside her frightened her. Dreams of that alien trilobite choking her made her flail around a bit in her sleep. However, the most prominent nightmare she had, was seeing her father. He was calling to her as he stood down a dirt road in the middle of an african savannah. He called out to her over and over, making her run towards him, the golden light of the setting sun glowing from behind him. She cried heavily as she ran towards him, but could never reach him. He finally smiled and waved to her one last time, before turning and walking over the hill ahead of her. She screamed out to him as he disappeared into light of the horizon. A chill shot through her whole body as a heavy hand grabbed her shoulder, and turned her around.

The sky was dark on this side, lightning struck around the huge beings in front of her. Hundreds of Engineers stood behind her, all of them looking identical and staring at her. Instantly she felt cold, like the weight of an ocean was above her. The one who held her towered almost five feet above her, and spoke to her angrily in its own language. She whimpered as he shook her, shouting in her face. She shook her head, gasping through her tears as she looked up to him. Then, she instantly froze as he pushed her from her shoulder. She fell back, and just keep falling. She fell over a cliff and down into a dark ravine. An abyss. She opened her mouth to scream, but no noise came out. It seemed to go on forever, making her feel more and more afraid than she already was. The voice of the Engineer that pushed her echoed in her mind, but as she closed her eyes, silence engulfed her.

With a small nudge from the Engineer, Ellie jerked out of her sleep. Her hair was wild from laying down for so long as she turned her head in a panic to who woke her. The messy strands hung around her face as she looked through the hair wide eyed. She had almost forgotten where she was. The Engineer was standing beside her, no real emotion on his face. His hand retracted from her shoulder as he stood more upright. She rubbed her eyes and shook her head,

"What is it?"

The huge space jockey motioned for her to get up, grudgingly, she did so. She stretched and yawned as she looked up at the muscular figure as he moved towards the door. She followed him with her eyes as he picked something off the floor and turned back to her, holding it out with one hand. She slowly took a few steps and reached out and took the folded material from him, thinking of what it could be. A hand gesture from him made her realize that it was a suit like his. His hand gesture toward his body earlier then made sense now, but had he really trimmed a suit down for her in that two hours?

"He crafted you a more fitted suit, that rescue ship seems to have begun it's descent."

David, again, made her flinch. She glanced over at the android and blinked a few times. It was like what he said didn't click in her mind. _Rescue_? That word felt strange to hear, especially after she had become so accustomed to the dank ship. The Engineer made a move to his left, and turned towards the door. She looked at the back of his head, as if he was going to turn around and tell her what was going on. David spoke up once more,

"Dr. Shaw, you must get dressed in order to get out to the ship."

"I-I don't believe it. His people came here? They actually came to rescue him?"

She began moving the uniform around, trying to figure out how to put it on. After shedding her robe, she held it up to get a better look at the heavy suit. The Engineer was giving her some privacy, how chivalrous, she thought as she moved the black suit around to figure out which way it went. She found a long slit in the thick leathery material, and struggled to step through. The android continued speaking to her casually,

"Yes it would seem that they did. Are you frightened to meet them?"

"Not frightened, just a little nervous."

She then figured out how to fully get the suit on, and pulled it up over her hips. It was very tight, and had that bony ribbed material on the outside like the Engineers. It felt rather stiff as she struggled to pull it over her head. As she fully got into the suit, she pressed the large slit on the right side of the uniform together, looking for a zipper. As soon as the edges touched, the pieces seemed to fuse together. She yanked her fingers away and gasped, studying the strange sealing mechanism. Before she could try to poke into it, the Engineer moved forward, making her look at him. He opened the huge door and her heart picked up, she stared as he turned and motioned for her to follow.

She couldn't believe she had slept so long, they were really here? As the Engineer moved to exit the room, she piped up, darting over to the two parts of the android. Her small hands picked up the android and she turned to the space jockey, her eyes pleading for him to help her. The alien hesitated, looking from her to the body. David observed the Engineer as he seemed to contemplate even bringing him. Relief blanketed her as the large being scooped David up like he had before, carrying the body for her. The Engineer seemed to understand she really did need David, she was thankful for this.

The two of them proceeded to run down the hall, she followed the Engineer as he made turns and opened doors for them. It felt easier to keep up with the long stride of the Engineer now for her, she felt energized. It was the moment she had been waiting for her whole life, to meet them. She now could get a look at their culture and understand how everything worked. A clunk from above them made her come back to reality, looking up just as the grate of a vent looking structure fell. It fell _on_ her. The large vent cover was unbearably heavy, a shrill scream escaped her throat as she collapsed beneath the coffee table sized grate. Her hands pushed desperately at the floor, her back pressed into the cold bone-like metal of the grate. The Engineer immediately spun around to see what had happened, and a large tan tentacle dropped down out of the ventilation system.

Another scream filled the hall as she flailed around beneath the heavy grate upon seeing the familiar creature out of the corner of her eye. The space jockey dove down over her, his large hands grabbing each side of the heavy grate that crushed down on the red haired woman. He struggled to avoid the tentacle and get a good grip on the edges of the metal. The tentacle felt around on the walls close to him, searching for the prey that it had sought out earlier.

As the grate lifted, there was no way around marveling at how powerful the Engineer actually was. Ellie jumped to her feet too soon, as the tentacle swayed over and knocked her down into the wall to her right. The smack to the wall made her head spin, she stumbled around for a few seconds, trying to get her bearings. She blinked a few times, trying to get her head to stop swaying back and forth. She wasn't sure if it was actually moving or not, but her vision was definitely shaky. A snarl from the Engineer made her look up from the ground and to her left, the scene blurry for a few more moments. A smaller, longer tentacle had erupted from the vent. The tentacled creature couldn't fit completely through the hole in the ventilation grate, but it had that thinner tentacle around the pale alien's arm. It was going to do anything to pull them up there with it. An instantaneous lurch in her stomach made her jaw drop in horror. She immediately jumped over to him, not a second thought before grabbing and yanking at the tentacle frantically.

The Engineer pulled and leaned away as it tried to pull him up into the ceiling, gritting his teeth visibly as he arched his back away from the ravenous creature. The petite human had leaped over to him and was pulling wildly at the tentacle wrapping its way around his arm. Fear of being touched by the creature flew out the door for Ellie, this space jockey was her savior, and she would fight to keep him with her. The threatening appendage was slick in her hands as she grabbed wildly at the end of the slimy tentacle. The larger tentacle swayed around uselessly, too short to wrap completely around anything. Leaning his large body away from the creature allowed the Engineer to stretch the thinner tentacle out, causing it to strain to hold him. In a panic, small human hands yanked repeatedly on the tentacle, trying to loosen it. The only thought that rung in her mind:

_You are not taking him, I won't lose him too. _

With frantic pulls and small twists, the Engineer's arm began to slide through the grip of the creature. She stood in front of the muscular humanoid as they both pulled, feeling that the tug of war was now leaning in their favor. Her hands almost slipped off as the tentacle's grip began to loosen. The tentacle then completely slid off the Engineer's arm, causing he and the woman to fall backwards. She collapsed back onto the abdomen of the burly alien as they fell to the floor in a messy heap. The tentacles flailed around above them, trying to pull the creature down into the hall. The movement of the Engineer beneath her made Ellie realize where she was sitting, on his lower body. She quickly scooted off the body of the Engineer, ignoring the embarrassment to focus on the tentacles still waving around.

The bold doctor crawled forward on her knees, and grabbed David's head, pulling it back with her as she recoiled back to the side of the Engineer. The muscular body she had fallen onto was now standing, hauling the android's larger half up and backing towards the door. The woman immediately followed suit, backing out of reach from the tentacles. Both of them looked in utter shock to each other at what had just happened. Neither of them wanted to stick around to get caught again by the creature lurking in the vents. The Engineer turned and began jogging down the hall, the doctor quickly followed behind him. They ran as fast as their legs would carry them, not wasting a second.

As they made their way down the last chamber on the ship, the Engineer made a small stop on his left. Ellie panted beside him as her wild eyes followed his every movement.

He used his free hand to pull out a helmet from the small rectangular section in the wall. There were at least four more on the shelf alongside the one he pulled out. The alien motioned with his head toward the helmets to the woman behind him, she frantically grabbed one and and put it on her head with little hesitation. It was difficult for her to see out of, but she managed to wiggle it on after setting David's head down. The android spoke up to her from the floor,

"Make sure you seal it tight doctor, it is probably still pretty windy outside."

Ellie felt around until she found what she thought were latches, and pulled them against her suit. It amused her that David was constantly pointing things out to her along the way. She knew she had to reassemble him once they got onto the ship.

The helmet locked in place just as the Engineer turned to inspect her helmet, making sure it was on properly. The red head picked up the head of the android as the alien put on his own helmet, she thanked David quietly,

"Thank you for the heads up David."

The blond synthetic smiled at her gratitude, liking the feeling of being helpful. David couldn't explain why, even after all the events, he wouldn't want to be anywhere but here. This was the most adventure he had seen since he had been built, and it intrigued him seeing what was unfolding. He knew that the doctor would put him back together when she got the chance, and he would dedicate himself to being useful to her. The woman carrying him darted after the Engineer through the exit doors of the ship, and into the base of the pyramid. It was even more grim here, especially when the ran passed the enormous doorway to the chamber where Millburn and Fifield had been killed. They continued sprinting through the dark chambers of the pyramid, hearing the howling wind outside. So many thoughts ran through her head as she ran after the large humanoid. What would his people think of her? Would they welcome her? What about David? How would they treat the Engineer since he was over two thousand years old? So many questions ran through her mind, but none of it mattered. All that mattered was getting as far from this hellish ship as possible.

After what felt like an eternity of running, she could see the gap between the ground and the ceiling of the pyramid. An exit. The Engineer slowed his pace as they reached the exit, the bright sunlight made them both cover their eyes for a few moments. It was blinding out here, especially after they had sat inside such a dark ship for so long. Natural light seemed so enticing to her as her eyes gazed out at the rocky desert. A brief thought of sun basking on a grassy hill with a good book made her smile inwardly. A wave of fear and excitement replaced her smile as she saw the foreign looking ship a couple hundred yards from the entrance of the pyramid. A shaky breath entered and left her lungs, it was hard to stay relaxed.

The wind whipped loudly ahead of them, making Ellie a tad nervous. The woman stood close to the Engineer as they wasted no time going out into the arid desert. The wind nearly knocked her over as they moved away from the pyramid, she clung to David's head like a life preserver as they ran out towards the ship. She blinked her eyes hard, her gaze locked onto the ship ahead of them. She still couldn't believe it. At any moment, the ship would disappear, like a mirage.

Her heart practically jumped into her throat when she noticed Vickers life support module a couple hundred feet to her left. She shook her head, remembering that the creature must have come out of the med pod. Quietly, she hoped Janek and the crew were safe and on their way home. As they came upon the large oblong shaped ship, a large doorway opened up. Words couldn't describe how anxious she felt as these other Engineers appeared before them, standing just inside the door. She was so focused on the door, she hadn't really taken note of the appearance of the ship. There were at least eight other Engineers, all standing with weapons of some sort in each of their hands. They entered the ship, and it was dead silent. As the door slammed behind her, Ellie knew there was no turning back now. Now they were going to do whatever they wanted.

Two of the helmeted beings came forward, quickly taking David's body from the Engineer and David's head from her. She resisted for just an instant, but then realized they probably wanted to make sure no one brought any contaminants on board. David disappeared along with the aliens back into the chambers of the ship, making her feel more alone than before. The Engineer turned back to her, removing his helmet as the pressure returned to normal. He reached back and helped take her helmet off, she almost didn't want to.

The heavy helmet felt like armor, protecting her from those around her. As all of their helmets came off, she realized there were two female Engineers on board. They were not quite as tall as the males, and definitely had a more feminine shape than the men. As her last tiny little piece of protection was set aside, her heart was practically beating into her throat. All of those dark eyes were on _her_. Her muscles quivered with nervous energy, she wasn't sure what would happen now. She was human, and wasn't comfortable thinking of the bad outcomes of this situation. Without realizing it, she had cowered beside the Engineer she had traveled here with.

A large male alien to her right then began speaking, the room seemed to erupt in conversation between the space jockeys. She felt so out of place among these beings, but it was unbelievable actually being among them. A few other Engineers spoke to the one she stood beside, probably asking him what had happened and if he made any contact with that black chemical onboard. Minutes flew by like seconds, and the conversation was way beyond her. They seemed surprised to see him, just like she expected them to be.

The male alien directly to her right seemed agitated for some reason, making the air tense between them all. The Engineer that had saved her turned toward the more hostile male. The two of them seem to be in a heated argument of some kind. She sunk back, feeling tiny, and almost invisible. Her nervous brown eyes never left the new Engineer, a wary look on her face. One of the females directly ahead of them shouted and got the attention of the friendly space jockey. As his attention shifted to the female alien, a crushing hand wrapped around her upper left arm. A yelp escaped the red head's throat as a hard yank pulled her to the ground, onto her knees. Her pale 'friend' immediately turned and snarled at the one that pulled her over, engaging him in some ferocious words. Ellie cringed as she was held on her knees beside the more aggressive alien. She didn't dare move from the spot she was being held, her left arm awkwardly positioned above her in his grasp. Pleading eyes looked up at the Engineer she trusted, but his eyes were locked on the one that instigated the argument.

After a bit of back and forth between the two, her Engineer surged forward. A ferocious punch connected with the face of the space jockey that held her down by her arm. All the other aliens seemed to back away from the scuffle instinctively. Ellie leaned away as the rude Engineer fell back slightly from the punch. The same female that had spoken up before now shouted at them once again, stopping the fight. The Engineer that stuck up for her then put himself between Ellie and the instigator. After few moments of silence, the red headed woman was helped to her feet by her humanoid friend. As soon as she was on her feet, the Engineer walked after the female that had broken up the fight. A hesitant look back to the aggressive Engineer gave her chills, his glare hard as he clasped a hand over his bloody nose. The blood was just a tiny bit darker than human blood; she took note of the similarity. As her attention went back to the two Engineers leading her away from the gate, she couldn't help but ponder about the bald female Engineer.

_Both of the women are bald just like the men, but are far more feminine. But she must be the captain, or the superior officer. They listened to her instantly. _

Ellie made it a point to stick close behind her savior. He really was protecting her now, it made her feel a strange sort of confidence. It felt like nothing could touch her, the Engineer would protect her now since he had saved her. These thoughts also made her a little uneasy, did he see her as property now? Was she an object?

She followed through many corridors, the female alien led them to a small room in a small hallway branching off from the main one. This ship still had the ribbed design, but seemed so clean, it was all dark gray metal. It wasn't black and dank like the other one, but it was freezing cold inside the ship. Small lights lit along the floor, where the wall met the floor. Her eyes explored everywhere as they walked through the cabin, she kept close to her Engineer.

_Her_ Engineer?

She kicked herself mentally, unsure of why she considered him to be hers. No doubt she felt attached to him, he had saved her, but she wasn't sure how to understand this weird bond they had. The thoughts of the ship flew out the door when she passed a large open door, inside which, she saw David laying in two pieces on a large medical bed. She immediately took note of where this door was, and about how far down the hall from where the female Engineer took them. The tiny branch of the hall split off to the left, and led just a couple yards into a dead end with a single open doorway.

The doorway led to a small bedroom with two bunk bed looking structures on either side of the tiny room. There was barely enough room to get up and move, it was very cramped, but this was a mineral ore ship, not a luxury cruise. After the Engineer spoke to her a bit longer, she left them alone. The female eyed her carefully as she turned to leave them, looking Ellie up and down grudgingly. It definitely made her feel uncomfortable as the female space jockey left them. She couldn't really expect to get treated as an equal, or as a friend right off the bat. She was just a creation of theirs.

Her friend then turned to her, a small half smile appearing on his face. It made her smile in return, he looked almost charming when he smiled. It wasn't an emotion she had really seen on his face before, it made her feel comforted. She felt like she was going to be okay, and that they were safe now. Before anymore interaction could occur, the Engineer sat back on the bottom of the left bunk. The material creaked beneath his weight, his hands rubbed his eyes and a sigh escaped his lips. All of his actions proved to be very human to her, it was making her feel even more attached to him, realizing how much they were really alike.

He looked tired, and as she thought about it, he had only dozed off once when they were in the quarters back on LV-223. She had gotten a few hours of sleep when she had been knocked unconscious, and dozed off in the living quarters too. He must be absolutely spent after all that had happened. The world weary space jockey then laid down, put his huge hands on his chest and closed his eyes.

Ellie sat down across from him on the bottom bunk, just observing him. He was massive. He was also very tranquil, laying there, finally able to relax. She felt happy for him, but couldn't help but notice how big he really was. The Engineer had to be at least seven feet tall, he just fit inside the bunk with only a couple inches to spare. Maybe he was just big for his kind? Maybe he was small?

Realizing that the Engineer wanted to rest, she began to look around, making sure to keep quiet. The room had no door, or if it did, she couldn't see it. She wouldn't have any idea how to close it if she found it. After looking around the dim room for a few minutes in silence, she thought of David again. It was high time she put his head back on so she wasn't constantly hauling him around, especially since they would perhaps be setting foot on the Engineer's home planet. She didn't know too much about wiring, but she would just have to figure it out. She needed David, sooner rather than later.

The red head quietly stood up, being careful not to bother the slumbering space jockey. On her tiptoes, she made her way out into the main steel hall. She could hear voices, but wasn't sure how far down the corridor they were. It was probably best to avoid them for now, especially since the friendly Engineer was resting. With a deep breath, she made her way out into the hall, moving as silently as possible.

[][][]

I kind of rushed this one, so apologies for any mistakes…Why do I love this so much?! xD

Please review and let me know what you think! Thanks!


	4. Rebuild

I'm so stoked about where this is going, I can't even explain. I love the reviews! I appreciate all the feedback!

Someone mentioned me perhaps bumping this to an M rated story… I really want to. I may just go for it. But leave your thoughts about that if you guys are interested. Teehee. :D

-[4]-

A weary captain slumped in his control chair, head placed lazily in his right hand. A heavy elbow pressed into the control desk beside a glass of scotch. His eyes rested on the glass, staring into it with an unsavory guilt eating away at him inside. They had abandoned Ellie. Even though she said there was no saving her, his gut pushed him to go back. He knew this wasn't a possibility, not with that alien awake and storming around killing people. They had already been flying for almost a full day anyway. Once they were away from this solar system, they would go into stasis and sleep until they got to Earth.

Chances were, Ellie was dead. But something was pushing him in his gut to go back, that she would come running out of that god forsaken pyramid and thank him a thousand times for saving her. It was just wishful thinking.

A sound behind him made him turn, a tired glance turning in the direction of a thin blond woman in a navy colored spandex suit. The woman stood quiet, staring at him with those huge blue eyes. The two of them stared in silence for a few moments, her posture shifting slightly. Janek broke the silence as he turned back to his glass of scotch,

"What did you need Vickers?"

The words left a bitter taste in his mouth, he didn't feel like dealing with the high strung woman right now. She took a quiet deep breath before responding, speaking in a soothing whisper,

"I am sorry for the loss of Doctor Shaw. I'm not sure-"

"What about Holloway? Millburn? Fifield? How about Ford? "

The captain snapped, turning back toward her before she could finish. An unfriendly expression painted his features. Meredith seemed taken aback, tilting her head as he further interrupted her apology.

"What about your dad?"

Those last words struck a nerve within the cold woman, he could see the tension in her jaw tighten up. She looked as though she was ready to punch him,

"I'm not responsible for all of those people."

Janek forced a laugh and turned back to the desk, taking a final swig of the scotch. After twisting his mouth at the taste and swallowing it, he stood up, making her tense up even further. The bulky man calmly walked up to her, a sarcastic smile on his face. His eyes told a different story, they seemed pained. This outburst wasn't like him at all from what she knew of Janek. His tone was raspy and also unlike him,

"Then who is? Your dead father? The company? Wait, that's right, you can pay to cover all of this up, but don't make the mistake of thinking _anyone_ will forget whose fault it is. You three brought us out here, without telling us what we were actually getting into-"

"I had no fucking idea what was out here! You have no right-"

He cut her off her again, the look on his face becoming slightly angry,

"You guys came out here for something! Something you didn't bother sharing with us, and now half the crew is dead… You're the one who has to live with this Vickers, because _you're_ still alive. You and your company have more blood on your hands than you can just wash clean…"

The woman was silent, her eyes expressing a hurt rage building. Janek had never been like this, it wasn't what she expected to hear while apologizing for the loss of the doctor. The dark skinned man then turned away from her, pacing back to the desk and pouring himself another glass of the golden liquor.

A huge breath filled his chest as he held the drink up to his face. Meredith glared intently at the back of his head, as if she could make him take it all back by just glaring. She forced herself to take a few slow breaths, knowing that her temper was on the verge of completely boiling over. As she opened her mouth to try and salvage the conversation, the man calmly spoke, not looking back at her.

"You know Vickers…you may have treated that android like shit, even like… property. But as it turns out, you're just like him, if not colder."

...

Figuring out how to attach the android hadn't been quite as difficult as Ellie had thought. While she worked, David instructed her all the parts that he would need to have repaired. Once she had connected the parts of the body allowing him to move, it would allow him to assist in his own repairs. The room he was sitting in was similar to an infirmary, and it was far different than the one she had seen in the other ship. This room wasn't grey and metallic, it was blindingly white. The medical tools were all organized in small rectangular slats on the far left wall. The machines looked much more advanced, and were pushed against the wall behind her.

The doctor had pushed the table David was on over to the wall, trying to avoid being near the doorway. She didn't want any stray Engineers nosing into what she was doing, and risk getting one of them angry with her again. David had helped her find a wire solder, she couldn't believe they even had one. The Engineers must have kept it around for repairs of their medical machines in the room. There were many machines, and this room felt almost cramped by all the machinery that didn't even look like it got used.

She wasn't sure how long she had been working on David, she had only connected his main 'spinal column' and part of his right arm connections in the first couple hours. It had to have at least been an two and a half hours. An _infuriating_ two and a half hours.

"The smaller negative wires are a beige color, and need to be connected to the same charged terminal."

Ellie struggled to connect the tiny wires, they all looked the same and were covered in that white hydraulic fluid. A few times, she had given him a little jolt when she touched the opposite charged wires together. David's right arm began to twitch, she exhaled in a relieved manner,

"Oh finally, Hopefully you'll be able to help me now. My eyes hurt from staring at your neck for so long."

"My apologies Doctor, I'll assist as best I can when my right arm is fully connected."

A smile on her face made him know she acknowledged him. The doctor wasn't sure what all of these wires were even for. She just connected them as she was told, describing them to him to make sure she was doing it right. She had already connected some of the wires to a panel under the skin on his right shoulder, giving him at least some movement.

As the minutes ticked by, David began to be able to move more and more with his right hand. It was a huge relief. She wasn't a robotics technician, and she wasn't prepared for this. She wasn't ever ready to reconstruct a decapitated android on this mission. After another fifteen minutes or so, she had seven more of the hair-like wires reconnected. David was now able to close and open his fingers. His face lit up with a smile as he realized he could move them again.

Ellie then stood up straight, stretching her back. She had to do all of this detailed work without a chair, and the ground hurt her knees if she knelt for too long. As she stretched out a bit, the android thanked her,

"Thanks for assisting in my reconstruction. I do appreciate it."

"I'm glad it's mostly cosmetic damage and just wiring connections."

The android chuckled as he looked up at the doctor,

"My processor is inside my head, where a human brain would be, but my main power cell and sensory receptors are in the chest of my body. I have a smaller power cell in my processor, but the battery life only lasts about six months before it deteriorates."

Ellie chuckled, making a small joke about waiting to put his head back on. She stretched her fingers and wrists a few more times before getting back to connecting the last few wires for his right side. After the next couple wires were connected, he would be able to solder the left arm and body wires himself with her just assisting him. The synthetic seemed to be thinking something, she could feel it. The busy woman tilted her head as she soldered a pair of wires together,

"What's on your mind David?"

The android seemed to be hesitating, he seemed to be articulating his words properly. She just kept her hands busy with the wires as he decided how to respond. After an accidental jolt and a jerk from the android's body, the synthetic seemed to figure out how he wanted to word his answer.

"I wanted to apologize, for the loss of Doctor Holloway."

The apology was so animatronic, like a computer was reading it to her. Her hands immediately went still. Thoughts of her last encounter with Charlie clouded her mind. The red head stared at the wires for a few quiet seconds, taking in what David said. He couldn't really mean it, but he wasn't really acting on his own account when he made Charlie somehow come in contact with the black chemical. Weyland controlled him completely. She knew David had something to do with it, he was the only one who would have been able to since the wasn't an actual human. He also hadn't become an monster obviously. She wasn't sure exactly what had happened, but all she knew is that this blond android did in fact take part in Charlie's demise. Her heart sunk, she felt a crushing sadness come over her. She had been so busy, she hadn't taken the proper time to grieve.

She had a small melt down on the Prometheus after she had her emergency surgery, but hadn't taken time after that to grieve for her lost boyfriend. There was an ache in her chest, and her skin felt cold. A small knot developed in her throat, and she wouldn't look into David's eyes. It felt like salt in an open wound. She wanted to cry. The android was just trying to sort things out between them, but it didn't help. She wasn't the type to hold resentment though, no matter how heinous. It wasn't her nature. Never had she said she 'hated' another human being, she wasn't like that. Ellie was forgiving. Kind. Charlie seemed to think she let people walk all over her sometimes. That was a major difference between the two of them.

She was always one to let go of her animosity, and move on with her life. Life was too short to waste hating others, in her opinion. A delicate smile appeared on her face when she thought of what she said to Charlie regarding spite,

_"When you hate someone for their behavior, looks, or personality, it really says more about you than it does them." _

Charlie disagreed. He always thought people were not _all_ good. He said everyone had some 'darkness' in them, or hidden intentions. He had to be the difficult one. She always believed that humans were born inherently good, and learned from those around them to be good or bad in their life.

But now he was gone.

A sigh escaped her lips as she resisted the urge to cry. She had cried enough. No doubt she missed Charlie, but this is what he would have wanted. Charlie would be mad at her if she moped around missing him forever. She knew he loved her, and she loved him. It was part of her that she would always hold onto. There was still a life for her to live, and answers for her to find, and she was the only human to do it. No other human stood on the brink of such an important discovery, and she had to keep herself together. There was little time for weakness in a strange new world like this.

"It… It's okay…"

She breathed, looking up to the android seated on the table. David then realized the apology had actually caused her pain. He carefully reached out with his only functioning hand, grabbed one of her hands and looked down at her with a sorrowful expression. He didn't mean to cause her any more pain. No other words dared escape his mouth. The woman swallowed the pain and then nodded to him to let him know she was all right. She pulled her hand back, and continued her work in utter silence.

…

After assisting David in his repairs, Ellie had left the medical room and returned back to the small bedroom. The Engineer was still dead asleep, but he had to have moved in the last five hours. The bulky alien was now missing the top half of his uniform. As she entered the room and noticed, she couldn't help but hover over him for a couple moments. Her eyes scanned over his huge body. All of the muscles on his body were perfectly carved and large, jutting off of his already large skeleton. He didn't even have a blanket, despite how cold it was on the ship.

The doctor decided to at least lay down for a little bit, her head hurt from staring at the multitude of small wires for the last few hours. As she climbed into the small cot, it squeaked slightly, making her move carefully into a laying position. She faced the wall, and immediately got chills. It was downright frigid in the ship, but she had to try and rest a bit. Her stomach growled loudly as she got more comfortable, she sighed and wrapped her arms around herself. She wasn't sure if she could fall asleep, or when the next time she would eat would be. After a bit more squirming, she finally got comfortable.

And before she knew it, she had dozed off.

_She was a child. Well, she was looking down from a birds eye view onto a child version of herself. The tall grass around her came up to her hip, it was a shimmering gold and felt sheltering to her. Little stray blades tickled her knees as she giggled, looking at the grass. As she looked up, her laughter stopped. Only one figure was ahead of her, her father. She could recognize him anywhere, even if his back was to her. She opened her mouth and yelled to him, calling out repeatedly. He then slowly turned, revealing that it was an Engineer. The scraggly clothes seemed to fade away as the pale faced being approached her. Heavy footsteps crushed the light grass as he walked forward. The young Ellie shook her head, beginning to cry and ask where her father had gone. The huge alien dropped to one knee to be closer to her height, a huge hand reached out to her. _

_The girl slapped the hand down and away from her as she screamed angrily at him, repeating her questions over and over. _

_Where is my dad? Where is he?! What did you do to him?! _

_The alien had a comforting expression on his face as he reached out to her, not saying a word. He reached out with both hands, motioning for her to come to him. His eyes were a lighter shade of navy, and emanated a kindness she hadn't seen before. The little version of herself jumped forward, throwing her arms around the Engineer's neck and crying heavily into his collarbone. As the Engineer stood up with the girl in his arms, he turned and began to carry her away. As her head poked up over his shoulder, through the tears, she could see two headstones. The tall bleak looking stones made her feel cold and afraid, like she was leaving them behind now. The young girl began to kick and flail in his arms, screaming for him to let her go. The girl was no match for the Engineer's grip, and reached out over his shoulder towards the graves of her parents. _

With a sudden gasp, Ellie shot up in the cot breathing heavily. Her hand grabbed at the rapidly beating heart in her chest, a thin sheen of sweat beaded on her forehead. After a few shaky breaths, she scolded herself for jumping awake after every nap she took. She wasn't sure how long it would be until she could sleep soundly. Then, her eyes fell to her lap, and that there was a burgundy blanket there now. The soft material covered her entire lower half and felt cozy to the touch. Her mouth hung open in surprise, she wasn't sure how it had gotten there. Her head quickly shot to her right, looking at the now empty cot a couple feet away from her. The Engineer must have finally woken up, and given her a blanket. A smile appeared on her lips as she pulled the blanket around her upper half, thinking of how kind he was being to her. She didn't think of him as a 'sweet' sort of individual, not with the mean look he wore all the time.

Her attention then moved to her more immediate right, and that there was now a small black sphere on the tiny nightstand. Hesitantly, she reached out and grabbed the sphere and brought it back to her lap. Her curiosity always got the best of her, she couldn't help but explore foreign objects.

It was at least seven inches in diameter, and jet black. It was shiny sphere, like a marble. A small shake gave her the hint that there was in fact something inside it. It weighed about as much as a basketball in her mind. As her hands molested the small sphere, she found that it had a tiny seam. She grabbed the top and bottom of the sphere and twisted, revealing that it came open with ease. As soon as she opened it, a vanilla-cinnamon like smell came out, along with a small amount of what looked like steam.

She held the bottom piece and set aside the top, looking into the half of the sphere, and there was a thick oatmeal looking substance inside. With another huff of the scent, it reminded her almost of a grainy cinnamon spice smell. There was a small black object jutting out of the meal, and she lifted it, quickly realizing it was a strange type of spoon. The spoon was thick, and had a small slit down the middle to the end of the actual spoon cup. Her growling stomach urged her to try it, but she still was afraid. She went back and forth about it, poking around and stirring the mealy substance. It was fluffy, pale white, and reminded her of cottage cheese. Good thing she liked cottage cheese.

Very slowly, she took a small spoonful of the chalky white meal and ate it. It was a little sweet, and just a bit grainy. A hint of some type of spice gave it some actual flavor, making it almost just like oatmeal. Her growling belly made her instantly begin eating it once she figured out it tasted fine. It wasn't' too flavorful, but she figured they wouldn't have too much variety on a mineral ore transport. The aliens probably could guess that she would be uneasy about eating whatever they threw at her.

After eating as much as she could, she realized there was only a tiny bit left. She screwed the top back on the small sphere and placed it back on the tiny nightstand. Being alone wasn't something she liked in this foreign world, she wanted to find her Engineer and stick with him. Again, _her_ Engineer, this thought was engrained in her mind. It also occurred to her to check on David and see how his final repairs were going. Hopefully he was able to fix the tear in his artificial skin around his collarbone. The doctor got up and stretched briefly, making her way out into the room and down the small hallway. Faint sounds of voices were to her left, but she decided to go down to the right. She wanted to get David before she went anywhere alone, it was irritating not understanding a damn word spoken here.

As she turned to the right, a huge alien approached her. Her heart skipped a beat as he walked up to her, it was the same Engineer that had knocked her to the ground earlier. She now could see he clearly looked different from the one she was saved by, this one was a little bit wider, and had a larger jaw. He stared down at her, mumbling something under his breath at her. Something wasn't right with him, he had a spiteful aura about him. He must have been one of the Engineers that hated the humans, or he just didn't like her because she was different.

Instinctively, she stepped aside and averted her gaze from his eyes. She didn't want trouble, especially not now. It was best to just let him pass. She wasn't even to the planet yet, and definitely didn't want to stir anything up. These Engineers on board this ship were probably just a rowdy crew, not 'professionals' per say. They were seeming more human-like every minute.

He seemed to follow her movements, coming uncomfortably close to her and backing her against the wall. She had no option but to look at him, even though she was only at eye level at about his chest. This Engineer was a decent size up from the one she was sort of friends with. The friendlier one was close to this height, but not this wide and big boned. This one didn't seem that he had the same amount of muscle tone either, even though his was far more defined than a regular human beings. His chest was just a couple inches from her face, a huge hand clapped onto her jaw. The pressure felt enormous, and a sudden rush of panic filled her as she was forced to look up at his deep set eyes. The alien held her whole jaw easily inside his hand, a stern glare on his face as he looked at her. She went up on her toes slightly, trying her best not to whimper under the heavy fingers pressing into her jaw bone.

For some reason this space jockey did not like her. She didn't have a clue as to why still, she had to just continue thinking it was the fact it was that she was human. His hand seemed to squeeze harder as he held her face, looking her over as if she was a show dog. She pulled back just a tiny bit, causing him to lean down close. He began speaking clearly to her in their language, most likely cursing at her from what she could tell. It didn't sound friendly in the least. She was incredibly nervous and uncomfortable. This Engineer could easily rip her apart like the first Engineer had done to the crew of the prometheus. She arched her back as he pushed her into the wall behind her, still giving her an angry lecture about god knows what. She just kept still, attempting not to agitate him farther, she struggled to keep her hands down. If she grabbed him it could make her situation worse.

Once he was done spouting curses at her, the Engineer gave her neck and jaw one final hard squeeze. The sudden squashing of her neck made her sputter and cough as he released her. She doubled over, holding herself up against the wall with one hand. As she coughed, he walked back in the direction he had come from; towards David's room.

Without a second thought, she decided to go the opposite way, back to the sound of the other voices. She wanted to find her Engineer and stick with him from now on, wandering off wasn't getting her any friends. David could find her when he was done repairing himself. She continued to swallow hard, gently touching her now sore and bruising neck and jaw. She feared that finger bruises would show up sometime soon on her sharp jaw line. The woman cautiously entered the open doorway at the end of the hall, finding a control room of sorts. The 'captain' female Engineer was standing in front of a table, a star map hovered above it as she spoke to three males. None of the aliens seemed to take notice of her right away.

One of the males she instantly recognized as her Engineer, but he wasn't fully facing her. She could tell by his profile that it was him. The other two looked a little smaller than him, a little more wiry. The red head walked briskly over and began peeking around him at the star maps, he quickly noticed her to his right. As soon as he took note of her presence, he said something to the female Engineer, and she nodded to Ellie. The doctor awkwardly smiled and nodded back, unsure of what was said. He probably was asking if she was even allowed to be in there, being a 'lesser' race and all. The female alien seemed to be explaining a location of some sort, and was making long sweeping motions with her hand over the map. Perhaps they were talking about a transport line, or their own location. All she could focus on was the idea of getting to their home planet and seeing their culture.

The little meeting only lasted a few more minutes, the female Engineer seemed to have other things to take care of. Her friend then turned to her, looking at her strangely. She inhaled sharply when his hands took her shoulders and gently turned her toward him. She knew what he saw. The Engineer was looking at her face in blatant disbelief. His dark eyes were wide as he looked at the forming bruises on her face. The woman shook her head and spoke uselessly to him,

"No it's okay! I'm fine!"

The Engineer seemed already at a boiling point, he slid his hands up from her shoulders to her cheeks. He was literally hovering over her, his face just a couple inches from her face. Her heart fluttered for a moment as he cupped her face and looked at her with a sort of regret in his dark eyes. He seemed sorry, perhaps for leaving her alone while that brute roamed the ship and did as he pleased. Before she could protest, he grabbed her upper arm and tugged her along after him. She felt like a rag doll, constantly being pulled around like this. This Engineer didn't hurt her like the other one had though. This was definitely going no where good. She knew that. Pulling on her arm did nothing to stop him as he strode down the main corridor of the ship. The red head pulled back, trying to convince him not to go beat this other Engineer to a pulp, if he even could.

"Please don't! You just woke up, you don't need to start fights now! You might get hurt!"

The Engineer didn't listen to her at all. As they stormed down the hall, a familiar face came out of an open doorway to their left. The blond android eyed the two of them just for a moment before realizing he should follow along.

"David help me stop him! "

She demanded of the synthetic as she was pulled along after the furious Engineer. David quickly followed along and seemed to have a little twitch in his walk,

"I don't think that would be a good idea, I'm still not even finished with my repairs."

Ellie huffed in frustration and stumbled along after the rushed alien, his walk still brisk as they entered what looked like a storage room. The Engineer released her and walked a couple feet ahead of her, rounding a corner of stacked boxes. The material looked like a thin balsa wood, probably containing food supplies. There was no time to poke around now, the doctor and the android quickly jogged to catch up with the furious Engineer. A debate between two males appeared before them as they turned the corner. The more aggressive Engineer was sitting on a small crate, he was unpacking some small capsules from a box in front of him.

The red haired woman reached out to her friend, and gently touched his arm. She quickly demanded David to translate to him,

"Tell him not to fight him, it's not a big deal! I don't want more trouble! "

The android immediately relayed the information to the space jockey, earning a laugh from the seated one. The seated alien rose to his feet and began speaking to their friend. Ellie's Engineer seemed already hostile and began to shout at the other alien. The blond android grabbed the woman and pulled her back,

"There's nothing you can do. He's rather agitated that the other Engineer laid a hand on you."

The doctor nodded and just told him to continue translating the argument. Her Engineer was sticking up for her honor for some reason. David continued translating the argument,

"Your friend seems to demand that he not a lay a hand on you, or he threatens to paint the ship with his innards."

The morbid comment made her shudder, what a thought. No doubt he wasn't bluffing, not by a long shot. She spoke out to her friend as the two space jockeys continued arguing. She tried her best to speak over them,

"Please, E-Engineer, don't fight him. It's pointless, I'm fine."

As David translated her pleas, the Engineer they had become friends with hesitantly focused his attention on them. He responded to the doctor, but the android had to translate,

"He said: A male who takes a hand against a female deserves a serious reprimand."

The red head felt a little taken back, the Engineer considered her a woman? Of course he knew she was of the female species, but regarding her as equal to a woman in his society? That is sure how it looked. She felt surprised that this meant anything to him. Perhaps they really weren't too different from the humans they had created.

Huge dark eyes rested on her, they oddly reminded her of the night sky. Little glints of light speckled off the surface, giving him a starry looking gaze. Both Engineers were silent, looking at the human woman intently. Her words were soft

"Tell him, as much as I appreciate it, he doesn't have to do that. I'd like to sit him down and speak with him instead of watching them fight. All this violence is useless."

[][][]

I know this chapter wasn't necessarily as exciting as the others, but I swear the crap will hit the fan soon enough! :D

Don't forget to leave your thoughts for me! The feedback keeps me inspired to continue writing!

Thank you!


	5. Explanations

This song really inspired me for this chapter for some reason… if that even makes sense.

The song is **U R A Fever** by **The Kills**. I highly recommend it to my readers, if you're curious as to what weird shit I listen to while writing.

Onward!

-[5]-

Once the blond synthetic told the Engineer what the woman wanted, he seemed to swallow his rage. There was a small pause as the two Engineers glared each other down, but Ellie's Engineer took heed of her begging. The alien seemed to grudgingly respect her wishes and slowly turned to exit the room. He spat some vicious sounding sentence at the instigating alien and then moved toward the exit. The doctor shot a disapproving glance at the more aggressive of the two aliens as they turned and left. She felt a bit brave walking next to a nearly seven foot body guard. David chuckled lightly as they followed after their friend into the main hallway,

"I can't believe that worked. You do have quite a voice of reason Dr. Shaw."

Ellie chuckled and shrugged off his complement and followed the Engineer down the main hall. In her heart, she was definitely happy that the Engineer hadn't gotten into another fight on her account. The last thing she needed was to show up at his home planet as the cause of a bunch of fights between their people.

The Engineer motioned with his hand as they walked for her to follow him passed their room. Without protest, the doctor and android followed him, always looking for something new to investigate or explore. David's head was on a swivel, observing the ships construct and the design of everything he passed. They walked through the ship until Ellie was certain they were lost in the identical steel halls. The tall alien surprised them when he led them to a huge dark room. The little lights along the hallway floor simply ended at the door, making this room almost completely un-lit. The room had to be thirty feet wide, a window on the far wall stretched the entire length of the room. The 'glass' went from the floor to the ceiling, and the only light came from a the stars and a small map appearing out of a coffee table looking thing. There was a large curved couch around the table, facing the huge glass windows.

David and Ellie both had the same reaction to the fabulous view of the stars, dropped jaws and wide eyes. Both of them looked like little children at an amusement park looking up to the largest roller coaster in awe. The android instantly walked around the sofa to get close to the star map hovering over the squatty table. The Engineer plopped himself down on the end section of the couch, taking a deep breath. The red haired woman walked over to the gargantuan window, putting a hand to the freezing fiberglass. Tall metal looking support pillars were the only blemish on the otherwise perfect view of the vast universe around were billions of stars around them, it was a breathtaking view.

"It's beautiful…"

She cooed, staring out at the wonderful view in awe. The android translated her small statement to the Engineer, he allowed a small smile to appear on his pale lips. The doctor was far to enthralled in the window to turn and take notice of his smirk. After a few moments of silent admiration, the woman casually walked over and sat beside the muscular alien. The space jockey's dark eyes were glued to her face, on which there was a giddy expression. She was ready for some more answers now, he could tell. David sat a couple feet to their right on the sofa, piddling around with the hologram map. The woman took a breath and then asked David for a translation,

"David, would you ask him what his name is?"

The question seemed to almost surprise the android, if he could actually feel such an emotion. It made sense though, she had been addressing him as an 'Engineer' the entire time. The synthetic automatically translated her question to him, a disturbingly human expression of surprise appeared on the Engineer's face. He seemed almost happy to have her ask such a thing. His eyes smiled for him since he wasn't the most expressive of creatures. He responded to the question with just a single word, just his name.

"Zarek."

The way he pronounced it, made the 'A' sound long. Ellie repeated the name back to him with a hinted confidence, hoping she didn't butcher it trying to say it,

"Zaa-rik?"

The Engineer nodded to her, making her a tiny bit proud at getting it on the first try. She then pointed to herself and spoke clearly,

"Elizabeth Shaw"

As soon as she said it, Zarek craned his head toward her slightly with a confused look playing his face. She chuckled and shook her head, realizing that was probably a bit much for him to speak on the first try.

"Ellie."

"Ellie?"

It gave her chills to hear him parrot her name. His voice had to be two octaves below any regular mans voice. It sounded like a grumble almost, and smooth like silk despite the guttural nature of his language. She grinned and nodded to him, shifting slightly on the couch. She sat on the edge of the thin cushion, her back straight up and her upper body facing him. The alien was leaning back with both of his arms up on the couch, relaxing after nearly getting into a fight again. David shot a brief glance over to the two of them, taking in their body language and making a mental note of how they were interacting. Something about the doctor and Zarek struck him as odd. There was something the both of them shared, but he couldn't quite put a finger on it.

The red haired woman then spoke to David again for a translation,

"Ask why he is defending me…"

As David translated, the Engineer seemed almost confused in his response. The android forced a laugh as he told Ellie what was said,

"He asks you: Is it not the right thing to do?"

The doctor leaned her head back a bit and breathed a sarcastic huff,

"Okay. I do recall him telling you that he perceived me as a 'captive or prisoner' earlier on LV-223. But ask him where we are going."

As Zarek understood the translation, he lifted a heavy hand and pointed out the window. The other duo immediately turned their heads to look where he was pointing. The android explained what was said,

"He said they're taking us home. _Their_ home. Their leader would like to hear from a survivor of what happened on LV-223, this ship will take us home and allow him to get back to his home planet. It's another neighboring moon of one of the planets farther from the sun."

The space jockey nodded to her once David was finished explaining his words, like he was finishing the statement himself. The woman seemed excited, but also slightly nervous at the news. She knew that was going to be his answer, it just felt strange hearing it from him. She couldn't help but wonder what his planet was like, and what the common people's lives were like. It was hard to contain her giddy feelings. The red head felt a smile creep onto her face as she looked into the dark eyes of the alien,

"I like that name, Zarek. It's… unique."

The android told the Engineer what she had said regarding his name, and he nodded in thanks to her. He gave her chills again by saying her name to her once more.

"Ellie."

She stifled a giggle and sat back against the couch, looking out at the multitude of stars that painted the dark universe around them. It made her feel small. This universe was so large, so vast, she simply couldn't believe she was the only human out here making the journey. She was sitting here having a conversation with an alien. She felt like a teenage getting their first car, the urge to jump up and down and giggle like a school girl was difficult to resist. Better to contain this excitement and pent up energy, so as not to make Zarek think she was unstable or unpredictable.

The alien then asked her something, her head turned to him and saw that he had a remorseful expression on his face as he finished his question. The android sat up, looking over to Ellie as he hesitantly translated what he said,

"He apologizes for the events back on the base, and wants to know if you're afraid."

Both both male sets of eyes rested on her as she struggled to come up with an answer. She was definitely afraid, but not of the Engineers themselves. Not of Zarek anyway. She was afraid of making a mess by coming there. She wanted the opportunity to explore and make discoveries in this new culture. With a small sigh she shortened her answer as best she could,

"Not of you, just of being misunderstood."

Zarek seemed to understand what she meant, he responded accordingly. David stared out at the stars, continuing translating for the odd pair.

"He says that's good, he hopes you aren't afraid of him."

Ellie couldn't seem to get the smile off her face. It was stuck there as she briefly thought of how personable he really was. It was hard to believe this alien that she initially feared and respected was actually a kind, intelligent, and understanding being. Almost…Human. She then leaned back and reached over and nudged the synthetic's arm,

"Hopefully you aren't scare either David."

"It's okay… I'm fortunate not to have to feel such a thing."

The android joked with her, smiling as he began moving the star map; trying to find where they were now. That synthetic was always so nosy, inspecting everything.

The doctor bit her lip and stared out at the stars once again, it really was magnificent. With little thought, she slipped what was on her mind,

"I just hope they don't see me as just a lesser creation."

Without a second thought, the android deciphered her words numbly for the space jockey. The alien looked over at her, realizing she was in fact stressed about the journey there. His response surprised both of the others,

"He says you shouldn't worry about it, and that he'll protect you. Because it's the right thing to do, to him. The others may not feel the same."

His words had a mixed effect on the woman, her gaze fell to the floor in front of her. It reflected the starry window, her eyebrows furrowed together as she thought on what he said. The right thing to do? This alien had an impeccable sense of justice for what she thought a regular space jockey would have. It really seemed prominent in everything he did. Her next question would require quite an answer,

"What did he do on his home planet before he was sent out on that mission?"

After the translation of the question, the alien seemed to ponder for a few moments. She hoped it was for how to word it, and that he wasn't just making up something. His response was long, but very interesting. David seemed to think the same thing as he relayed the information,

"He said he was a guard…an officer. He protected the civilians from stray beasts from the forest and from criminals. He had been raised by his mother, who was most likely long gone by now. His father had been an officer as well, and had died during a small battle with some rogue Engineers when Zarek was very young. His father had sacrificed himself to prevent the rogues from landing on their home planet and raising hell for the common people, civil matters are handled immediately. The crime rate was almost nonexistent with the officers they had. He later volunteered to go on the mission for Earth, knowing the risks. It wasn't that he supported eradicating humans, he just went in honor of his father. When he went, everything went wrong. The biological weapon got out because of a mistake on their scientists part, and it turned them against each other. He and a few other healthy space jockeys were put in stasis and were going to be sent off with the ship to hopefully get into space before they were infected. He was supposed to come home. The Engineer that was supposed to launch the ship died before it could take off because of infection."

Ellie sat quietly for a few moments, feeling saddened by his story. It was tragic. He had woken up probably thinking he'd be home, or at least surrounded by his own kind. She couldn't imagine waking up and seeing the race you were sent to destroy. However, one particular part of what he said really hit home for her. She barely piped up,

"I'm sorry to hear about your parents, I lost my parents as well when I was young. It's… really hard."

She couldn't help but point out the loss of his parents, seeing as she knew exactly what that felt like. He had mentioned it in passing, and wasn't that emotional about it. But she knew. She knew that aching, hollow feeling inside once you lose your family. The world is ripped out from under you, and everyone comes to tell you they care and that they're there for you. But they aren't there forever, and someday you have to wake up and realize you must face the world alone now. Friends come and go, but your family was your blood.

The Engineer startled the doctor back from her thoughts by leaning forward and toward her slightly. The woman looked up at him with a hazy mix of contemplation and grief. She hated being reminded of the loss of her family, she knew too well how Zarek felt. A small motion from him made her inhale sharply, his huge hands took her left hand and placed it between both of his. His hands were soft and warm, it would be comforting; if she knew exactly what was going on. The alien looked into her eyes and spoke as soft as his low voice would allow in his language. The android was quiet for a few moments, making the anticipation much worse for her. Once David did speak, the eloquence of what the space jockey had said made her feel like she had been blind for years.

"He says; Losing family and loved ones is inevitable. There is not much room for softness in the universe. The weak go extinct. The old man that was one of those that woke him earlier, asked about immortality, while he was blind to what living forever really meant. The key to immortality is not some potion, or some medicine. _It's children_. They will live on in your likeness. With children, you'll live on forever."

Silence filled the room. Eyelashes fluttered over her elegant brown eyes as the woman stared at the alien in disbelief. The words stung her heart, but he was right. It wasn't something she had really sat down and thought of. She really hadn't considered this since she didn't have great chances of reproducing anyway. Sure everyone said your love would live on in your heart, but there was really some truth to what he said. With children, your likeness and blood would continue on forever. Humans just were too preoccupied to step back and realize this. The hunt for the fountain of youth was engrained into their DNA the entire time. Her hand felt almost tingly at the contact of his hands sandwiching hers gently.

The synthetic human behind her sat quietly as well, staring at the map while considering what the alien had just said. Never had he heard such a thing. Peter Weyland had been immortal the whole time, but was too blinded by greed and selfishness to realize it.

Brown eyes fell to her own small hand, between two huge pale hands. His hands were very large compared to hers, it made her hands look like a young childs. Zarek cupped her hand so gently, like he was afraid of bruising a flower petal. It was a previously unimagined tenderness, she didn't expect him to be capable of being so delicate with her. The alien slowly removed his left hand off of hers, and held it out to her. His palm was out, finger up, and she instinctively put her right hand out to mirror his. Although his hand was significantly bigger, it was the same as hers as their palms touched. His hand was nearly identical in every way. A wide smile appeared on her lips, wiping away any sadness she had felt earlier. They were really the same.

She knew she had so many more questions for him, but she figured she could narrow it down to one more. She had to know what that other Engineer's problem with her was,

"David, ask him one last thing. Why does that other Engineer dislike me so much?"

Once the synthetic asked Zarek, his eyes didn't move from her hand. He seemed to admire how small it was compared to his as he spoke, with David translating,

"He says, the hurt doesn't leave once loved ones are lost. Vengeance and spite are passed down by generations as a personality disposition when family injuries are involved. His extended family must have somehow been effected by the accident on LV-223. He couldn't say for sure, but family is the most important unit in their society. Compassion is key to a fully functioning society, especially from his standpoint, as an officer."

Ellie had nothing else to really say to the response. She now knew a tad more about their civilization, understanding how important family is to them. The alien slowly began to fondle and look over her dainty right hand, inspecting it like he was buying fruit at a grocery. The sight of Zarek being fascinated by her hand made her tickled for some reason, making her bust out laughing. The whole situation felt so casual to her. Even though she had just met him and got to actually know him somewhat, it was like they had been friends forever. Friends that didn't necessarily speak the same language. It felt like he was accepting her. He was allowing her to go under his wing to get her answers. This was the only connection she had to their world, and she wouldn't do anything to muck it up.

He slowly released her hand, looking at her eyes with an unreadable expression. There was just a hint of kindness in his face, something small. It seemed buried beneath his world weary and unemotional exterior. He had a hard heart, despite how kind he was to her. She instantly began to try and stifle her giggles at his fascination with her hand. It was really not as funny as she had made it.

"Ellie… It's okay."

He just spoke.. in _English_.

As soon as the English words escaped his mouth, her smiles and giggles ceased. The android behind her turned and looked toward Zarek with a very real look of surprise on his face. Had he really spoken to them in English? The doctor shook her head in utter shock at his words,

"How… It's not possible…?"

She mumbled, looking into his eyes with her mouth hung agape. David immediately asked how he learned the small phrase. The alien was almost wearing a smirk now, it was very small, almost unnoticeable on his features. Any hints of emotion were hard to distinguish on his face. It seemed like a practiced coldness.

With his right hand, he tapped with one finger in front of his ear while looking into the shocked woman's eyes. Her mouth slowly closed, still not believing that he had learned an english phrase so quickly. She knew he had to have a more advanced brain structure and method of learning, but she had no idea he could begin to grasp phrases by just listening to the language he didn't even speak. He must have heard her and David joking earlier, and understood what the context of the conversation was. His race really was more advanced than she had appreciated. He could have the potential to learn English much quicker than she could learn his language.

The sound of footsteps nearing made the trio turn back toward the doorway. The female Engineer that seemed to be in charge was standing in the doorway, looking at them with a look of slight disgust. She looked as though she didn't approve of them sitting about not doing anything while her crew was working. Not to mention the free ride to their home planet. She quickly stated something and observed them for a few moments. Zarek acknowledged what she said and then she left without another word. The red head's eyes moved to the engineer with a brimming curiosity lighting her face.

The male Engineer said something short, curt almost. David smiled that practiced animatronic smile, and blinked as he stared at the back of Ellie's head.

"Just a couple days left until arrival. LV-223 isn't too far from their home planet, seems to be just far enough to keep the major weapons at a safe distance."

This news made the doctor feel happy, but also a bit anxious. She didn't know what to expect when she landed. Would a lot of his people come out to greet him? Would they be afraid? What would they think as he walked in with her by his side? David interrupted her thoughts, as he often did,

"Are you ready for this Dr. Shaw?"

She felt almost offended that he would ask such a thing. Red hair whipped around her face as she turned back to look at him, the dim light of the map lighting his face in the darkness. Bright blue eyes were staring right at her now, she scoffed,

"Of course, If I hadn't been ready, I wouldn't have come."

The synthetic tilted his head and sort of shrugged his shoulders,

"I understand, but I hope you are taking into consideration that many of his people you are so eager to meet could react in the same was as the one from earlier."

A chill found its way up her spine at the thought of them all getting a hold of she and David and putting them to death in some way. She swallowed hard as she found her words, looking away from his hard gaze. He alway shad that penetrating stare, like he was trying to read every thought that went through her mind. After a deep breath, she articulated a response,

"I know I won't make it off that planet alive…I knew that the moment I decided to set foot inside this ship… But you can."

[][][]

I feel like I left something out of this chapter… if I did, my bad. I'll correct myself next chapter if I ever notice. /fail. I know it was a tad shorter than my others...

I'm ready for some planet exploring, hope you guys are too! I feel bad that this chapter was about just this scene, but I am trying hard not to rush things. And it was important! To me… lol. I have a habit of rushing everything once I get too excited about my writing. So forget the blah transport ship, lets see some civilization! Futuristic city time!

And some reviews! :D Thanks guys! I appreciate all of the feedback, thanks to you guests who I can't directly respond to as well.


	6. Decontamination

[in response to some guest reviews and some messages]

The reason I didn't have Ellie flip her shit about the Engineer/Zarek mentioning children, is because she did technically have a baby. [No doubt it'll come back up though] I figured at the time she would have sort of tried to block some of that hurt after what had happened with her alien fetus…lol. When tragic and traumatizing things like that happen, people tend to try and block it out. A reaction of pure… Shock. I figured she hasn't necessarily come to terms with the alien baby thing…But her giving birth to an alien leads me to believe, she can in fact bear children under certain… circumstances… Wink wink. ;D

But no worries, her meltdown is coming, for those of you waiting for it. lol. You always have to come to terms with your feelings, sooner or later.

Please leave your thoughts! Enjoy! :D

-[6]-

A couple days later…

It was hard not to hyperventilate as she struggled to breathe while strapped to a hard leathery chair. The bars to keep her in the seat didn't come close to her body because she was so much tinier than the Engineers. David sat beside her on the left, a platonic curve playing his lips. If he could feel what excitement was, this was it.

The last few days had been a breeze.

Ellie had touched up the skin on David's neck and upper chest area, so that he would at least appear more natural looking. The nasty gash in his collarbone would easily make him appear artificial. Her Engineer, Zarek, had apologized to the doctor for 'breaking her 'friend'. She knew the alien saw him more as a tool, and as property, not a human being. The Engineer was kind enough to refer to him as a friend rather than calling him an instrument.

She had done her best to stick by Zarek at all hours, not wanting to start anymore trouble with that ferocious Engineer she had encountered at the beginning of the journey. No real issues occurred, except for the female captain giving her what she perceived as death glares. Her pale friend had tried to convince her it really wasn't out of spite, it was out of misunderstanding. The female Engineers are highly competitive. They had to be, since family groups and connections meant everything in their society. The red head had admitted to David in confidence that she thought the females were actually quite beautiful, for having no hair. Their angular features gave them an almost wickedly ecsquisite appearance. Their rib cages were tiny compared to their powerful shoulders and large child birthing hips, it was an interesting proportion.

A loud roar of engines made the doctor press her head into the thick seat behind her. Her blood pressure went almost through the roof and her hands clenched hard on the bars in front of her. The android made her release her left white knuckled hand from the bar as he held her hand, trying to comfort the anxious woman. The red head swallowed hard, squeezing David's hand as they descended. She didn't move her head to look at him, she was too nervous. There were no windows on the pod in the sitting area, and all she could hear was the roar of the engines.

The female captain had been the one to drop the three of them off. They imagined that the captain had been glad to get rid of them and get back to work.

Zarek was sitting across from Ellie and the synthetic, his eyes closed and his head leaned back. He looked so relaxed, almost relieved to be home. He probably was also thinking of how to explain the entire situation in a way that didn't take hours. The doctor couldn't imagine why he looked so tranquil, his home wouldn't even be there; most likely. After an unfathomable two thousand years, he probably wouldn't have any relatives left. Maybe some great descendants of his family remained, but the chances were slim.

A shout from the female in the cockpit made Ellie's mouth drop open and gasp for air like an water starved fish. No matter how fast she breathed, it was as if no air filled her lungs. The doctor was told by the Engineers that she wouldn't need a helmet, since their air is breathable. She and the two males simply wore the space suits, no helmets or gloves.

This seemed unbelievable. This wasn't happening. She wasn't really about to set foot on the alien's home planet; not in her mind. So many thoughts ran through her head, she felt like screaming. If David could feel pain, he would have taken his hand back from her instantly. She crushed down on the artificial human's hand like it was life support for her.

The feeling of the engines slowing made her literally tremble in her seat. A sickening clunk of metal hitting the ground of a platform of some kind made her stomach lurch. A rather vocal sigh of exasperation escaped the woman's mouth as she turned her head and locked it on the loading bay of the small hopper ship. The android beside her could sense how fast and hard her heart was beating in her chest, he knew she was panicking. This was the moment she had been waiting for her entire life. He couldn't imagine how stressed she was.

He nudged her softly, making her head whip towards him. Her eyes were wild and jumpy as she stared at him, the half curled red hair formed a perfect curtain around her face. A small genuine smile appeared on his face,

"It'll be fine. Stay calm Dr. Shaw."

With some mechanical conversation in the ship, the bars on their seats lifted up. Their attention returned to the door as soon as these sounds echoed in the air tight pod. It was like a roller coaster as the bars came up, the scariest one Ellie had ever been on. As the three of them removed their belts holding them to the chair, the unlatching of the loading gate made all of them look to the opening doorway. Zarek was the first to stand, his posture tall and proud as he stared intently out the door. The small woman jumped up to her feet, her body on the defensive as the door lowered down to a ramp. Without thinking, she reached out and grabbed the Engineer's right forearm, peeking around it wide eyed.

There were a group of Engineers in what looked like hazmat suits, with clear, but tinted material covering their faces. There had to be at least fifteen of them, all surrounding the opening of the ship. This seemed wrong, there was no way they would be seen as infectious, they had been on the ore transport ship for days. She supposed it was a safety precaution after what had happened on LV-223.

The huge alien she clung to slowly pulled his arm from her as he began to walk forward, down to the ground in front of the group of Engineers. Ellie and David kept their hands out and open now, so the group didn't see them as a threat. Everything after this became a blur. Within a few seconds, they were being surrounded and dragged off. The doctor only resisted slightly, trying to turn her head and catch a glimpse of where they were taking Zarek. The feeling of him being away from her made her feel even more afraid and alone. The huge alien disappeared into a pair of double steel doors identical to the ones she was being dragged into. The group of suited aliens dragged David into a room closer to hers on the right.

The area they were leaving from was a huge hangar from what she could tell. It was solid, no natural light seemed to be getting in. Large steel doors on the ceiling made her think it was a small landing bay for small transport ships like the one they had come off of. There were rows of huge steel doors, all with writing she couldn't read painted on the outside of the doors in white paint on the dark grey metal. Lighted pathways on the floor and the walls lit the huge hangar, they looked like tiny LED lights. But she didn't get to continue observing it, she was dragged into a medium sized room with metallic mirror like walls on her left and right. There were tall doors straight ahead of her, and some weird grate beneath her, like a drainage system.

When the female Engineers dragged her in there, she only fought them so she could keep standing. They were very rough with their grasps on her arms as they stopped in the center of the room. Ellie nearly fell over a few times as her significantly smaller feet caught the holes in the grate on the floor. There were three females, and two of them began removing the space suit the Engineer had made for her. They yanked furiously at the thick uniform, making her sputter a few profane words as they aggressively pulled it down and forced her to step out of it. The woman had no say when they ripped the bandage undergarments clear off of her, making her hands shoot up to cover herself. Her heart was racing faster than it ever had in her life. It was freezing inside the room, and her quick paced heartbeat didn't help warm her.

None of them seemed to care about her being nude, and stood upright after stripping her. After exchanging quick glances, two of them turned and left the room from the doors they had entered. A demand from the third Engineer in the alien language accompanied a gloved hand pointing at the ground and making hard eye contact with the red haired woman.

Out of instinct, Ellie nodded her head as if she understood. She wasn't going to move without being told, not to risk getting anyone angry. Goosebumps covered her skin as she kept her eyes on the final female exiting the room. Her body shook in fear, and from the bitter cold. Her hands desperately grasped at her arms, covering her upper body as best she could while trying to keep warm. Her head was on a swivel, looking at the two mirror like walls the most. It made her feel uncomfortable to think that they were probably large walls made of one way glass.

A sound from above her made her jerk her head to look up and shriek as a lukewarm liquid poured down on her from small holes in the steel ceiling. The doctor writhed around attempting to wipe it off at first, and looking at her palms and trembling as she saw it looked similar to mercury. It didn't feel like mercury though. It had a very thick and heavy feeling, and it was slick like oil. She breathed quickly through her nose, and closed her mouth to keep it from getting inside her body. She stood as still as her shaking muscles would allow as the silver shower continued for another minute or so.

The liquid seemed to cling to her, making her almost entirely silver in color. New doors ahead of her slid open, revealing one of the females from before. At least she thought it was her. The single Engineer herded her forward, pulling her by her wrist through the new doorway. This room was tiny, almost like a wide closet. A third set of doors was just three feet ahead of her, and closed. These doors also had some small writing on them, it looked like a list of some sort.

A loud hum made the human look up at the ceiling, a huge vent from above blew warm air down on her. A quick gasp escaped her lips and she flinched as the air hit her like a wind tunnel. The doctors head dropped to keep the air from blowing in her eyes, she noticed two smaller vents on the walls of either side of the room. She squinted as she looked up to the female Engineer who began wiping her skin. This room was like a small gas chamber, and it instantly dried the metallic substance on her. It began flaking off like paper, and breaking apart in the air around her. The female engineer swiped at her skin with her gloved hands, knocking the metallic sheets off of the human's skin with ease. It seemed to all come off, making the female then made a call on what Ellie assumed to be a transmitter.

The third set of doors opened, revealing a slightly longer hall, almost like a foyer. It had lots of small doors and two small bench looking structures lining the walls. These walls were solid looking, with tiny elongated doors lining it. About twenty feet up, there was a huge door. This massive door had to lead to somewhere important.

While she was focusing on the huge steel door with a single word written on it, the female Engineer startled her by holding out something. The woman flinched as she looked at what was in the alien's hand, she shook it at her and barked something in her language. She seemed agitated that Ellie was so dumfounded. Shaky human hands took the material from her, realizing it was a type of clothing. As soon as she recognized it as such, she began figuring out how to put it on. The suit seemed to be pretty straight forward as far as putting it on. The material was a light gray, and felt warm to her touch. She wasn't sure why it was warm, but was so glad it was that way. She was freezing still, the warmth of the wind tunnel closet was wearing off.

The suit was tight as could be, and had a long slit down the front middle, similar to her old suit. She struggled to get her fingers to the end of the long sleeves, the suit had long pants as well. The whole thing was a light gray and was tight all over, a few black, leathery, rib looking pieces covered her rib cage. It almost looked like stripes. As she reached back, she could feel the back of the uniform had a thin, but raised spine made of the same material to where the small rib structures were attached. A small black collar covered her neck, tight and warm like the ribbing and spine. It was a built in heating material of some kind, just warm enough to make her feel comfortable. As she pressed the front slit together, she realized it was just like the space suit she had previously worn, and seemed to melt together almost. The female Engineer had also pulled out four dark strips, and had tossed them on the ground in front of her. The alien then impatiently waited beside her to figure out what to do next.

After staring at the small pile for a few seconds, the doctor grabbed two of the shorter strips and pulled them up. As she held them up, she realized it looked like a rubbery glove. It was soft like the skin of a dolphin, and a very dark black. Little sparkly flecks made her admire the material for a few seconds. But realizing the female Engineer was growing irritated with her, made her pull on the gloves. Along the top of her wrist and hand, she could see four small raised strips. These went down to her fingertips and she yanked on the gloves completely. It warmed her hands to a comfortable temperature, it was a fantastic design. She then grabbed the two larger black strips, and pulled them up over her feet, and all the way up to above the knee. On these, there was a heating strip in the front, the outside of her leg, and on the back of her leg. As soon as the last tug pulled up the 'boots', the engineer made a huff sound and began to walk to the large set of doors. A slam of the small rectangular storage door made the red head jump and scamper after the Engineer like a stray dog.

The female Engineer lazily pulled off the helmet as she opened the doors from a small control panel nearby the doorway. As soon as the doorway opened, a light glow of natural light became visible in the large room ahead of them. This room looked almost half as big as the hangar at least. The ceiling was impressively high and had a clear fiberglass looking roof with steel ribs holding it sturdy in some places. The sky was a dull grey and it seemed almost foggy outside the ceiling. There was a huge curved desk to her left, almost like a reception looking desk with four Engineers sitting at it. All of their attention was focused on large holographic screens in front of them, some of them had head pieces with a hologram type of bar going around their eyes. They looked through it to the computers and typed rapidly on the touch screen holograms. Huge navy colored floor panels covered the floor, a space mural engraved into the marble looking material. It was breathtaking craftsmanship in Ellie's opinion.

She also admired the large two columns holding up the front of the building, and the support beams of the glassy looking structure. A huge slope in the ceiling led to the far wall, across from the main desk looking structure, upon which there were round platforms next to the fiberglass wall. There had to be at least thirty or forty of them in rows, a smaller blue glowing circle filled some of them. As she focused to the more middle section of the room, she saw Zarek and David standing there. Two other male Engineer's were standing and talking to her 'friends' as she approached. She almost didn't recognize them because of the way they were now dressed. They also had strange looking robes on top of their gray jumpsuits. The majority of the robes were the same light gray color, but they had a black trim on the bottom edges of the robes, with a vibrantly colored collar. The collar was raised and a royal blue color, and sagging behind it was a light gray hood. She assumed they went through something similar to what she had upon seeing them dressed this way.

Seeing them made her heart jump in her chest as she briskly darted over to them, immediately moving between her two male counterparts. The female Engineer didn't join them, she simply walked to the desk and began conversing with another alien behind the counter. It really seemed human to her. It was definitely a social society.

David smiled at her return, and nudged her to know he had acknowledged her and to bring her to the conversation. Her Engineer held something to her without looking over, it hung loosely on his forearm. She slowly took it, and she instantly recognized it as a robe identical to theirs. The duo of other male Engineers seemed incredibly happy and curious about whatever her space jockey had to say. Zarek was very focused into what he was being told by these other two Engineers, whose collars were bright red. She made a quick mental note of this as she slipped on the outer layer of fabric she had been handed. Her robe didn't have long sleeves like the males' did, hers was short, and connected at her collarbone area, and the collar was smaller, just going around her neck. The royal blue collar went down the males' chests a bit, where it connected there, in the middle of the chest rather than the collarbone. Hers also had a short shawl looking thing on the front rather than sleeves, that had a slit open straight down the middle of the short front section of the fabric. The back had a hood as well, and the whole robe was long and billowing and had four large hidden pockets in it.

One male was speaking to them, his voice deep and raspy. This was the first older Engineer she had seen. His eyes had rings underneath them, and he had creases on the corners of his eyes from squinting and/or smiling. He looked sleepy, but content, and a bit more friendly looking than Zarek.

Ellie's attention moved from the red collared Engineers to the large shorter wall now to her left. It was the one lined with the round platforms. It had to be at least a couple hundred feet wide, and the circles on the ground she could now see were all a few different sizes. The shorter wall seemed to have no doors. She couldn't see a door on an exterior wall now that she looked around. Huge glass windows were all she could see, and there was nothing outside. It was white. When she looked higher up, more towards the ceiling, she could see the wind was blowing what looked liked now rapidly passed them. She cooed at the sight. No direct sun peered through the foggy looking air, the light was simply a glow from one direction from what she could tell.

As the conversation ended, she noticed that the two male Engineers eyeing her like an animal in a zoo. They sort of craned their necks down and stared in awe as Zarek spoke to them. It made her uncomfortable to have those sets of black eyes on her, like she was an alien herself. She knew she would have to get used to this. The woman swallowed hard, whispering to David,

"What is going on?"

The android shifted slightly back, trying to keep his distance from the Engineers, so he didn't' agitate anyone. He certainly didn't need his head torn off again,

"Zarek is explaining how he found you, and that he is keeping you because you were enslaved by your own people. He took pity on you and brought you here out of mercy, he's making it a bit more of a sob story."

"I found _him_…Why would he lie to his people right off the bat?"

The synthetic sighed and blinked, looking down at her,

"He's saving your life. If he says you just woke him up and came along to send word back to your people about them, I'm sure you wouldn't be alive for much longer. He's just twisting the story a little so they'll let you stay with him and not be hauled off to be…studied. Or you could be dissected, if I heard that elder Engineer correctly. They know what you are."

The red head felt tension hug her body, like she was on trial for a murder. Her Engineer was trying to keep her, it only made sense that they would try and take her away to dissect and study. That's what her people would do to an Engineer if it set foot on Earth. Another commonality between the races.

Once her Engineer finished speaking, he and the others placed a single hand on the other's shoulder. First Zarek and the older Engineer, and then he and the younger one. They used their left hands, and placed it on the opposite Engineer's shoulder, giving it a squeeze and saying something. It must be a respectful goodbye of sorts, a tradition she couldn't believe her Engineer would know since it had been two thousand years since he had been in contact with them. Some traditions must never die with this society. With little social and economic issues, the civilization must not have changed too drastically. This was something hard to believe. Two thousand years was an unimaginable amount of time, and things had to be different now. Very different. Perhaps traditions were still around, but she would bet money that the actual structures and method of ruling were different. She would have David sit down with him and clear up some questions regarding the changes since he had been there.

Zarek briefly glanced back to the synthetic and the doctor, waving them with his hand to follow him. Curious brown eyes flitted back to the red collared Engineers that gawked at her one last time before turning and following the third Engineer. Her Engineer led them to one of the circular platforms, and they casually stepped up onto it. Before Ellie could ask what this was, the space jockey turned and looked to the aliens at the desk. One of them with the glowing hologram visor looked at him and nodded. A strange tingling feeling began to cover their bodies as the platform began to glow. The woman quickly spouted her question,

"Ask him what's happening!"

The alien responded before the android could even translate the question, David informed Ellie of his statement before the light engulfed them,

"He said; try not to move, and to trust him."

…

The world was hazy now, a familiar male voice was speaking to her and a pair of hands where slowly shaking her. As Ellie's vision came into focus, she realized David was holding her up for the most part, his hands clenching the front of the tight space suit. She quickly pulled away and got her footing, she put a hand to her nauseated stomach as she met the android's concerned gaze. The blond synthetic forced a sigh,

"You were in and out of consciousness for about seventeen minutes. I kept you here while Zarek made his way up that flight of stairs. Teleportation must be difficult on your body, since it's new to you."

As soon as David said stairs, the doctor's head whipped to her right and up the gargantuan flight of stairs. It tapered at the top just slightly, and there were a concave row of throne looking chairs at the top. She could only see the very tops of the backs of the chairs from where she and David stood. Thoughts of how teleportation was even possible flew out the door, these aliens were way ahead of human technology. Peter Weyland could have learned quite a bit from them, but probably wouldn't have used it for good.

It looked like they were in a huge foyer to a throne room, it had pure white shiny floors. Huge black columns held up the fiberglass looking ceiling; upon which large, black, gothic style ribbed vaults held up the clear material. Outside was still a mix of snow and fog from what she could tell. To her left, there were three rows of those round platforms. She and David stood near some platform against the small section of marble looking wall, her eyes slowly scanning the room. All the remaining nausea seemed to fade away.

Two figures then caught her attention near the landing of the staircase. They were two huge Engineers, muscular males in what looked like titanium plated armor. She knew it probably wasn't titanium, but it definitely looked like armor, just without the helmets. Before she could make her way over to take a closer look, the sound of a bellowing voice to her right made her look back up to the top staircase.

It was definitely Zarek. However, David's voice suddenly whispering right beside her head made her focus on him instead,

"From what I can tell, he's appealing to an elder council of some sort. They aren't all here from what I gathered, and they're discussing his current situation, and setting up a meeting for tomorrow so they can gather all the councilmen. It seems that there are thirteen of them."

Her mouth hung open as she stared up the marble stairs, her mind racing a mile a minute. So they're run by a council, not a single ruler. It seemed fair enough, it didn't even surprise the doctor really. The woman then waved with her hand for David to follow her towards the staircase. He scampered after her and tried to hold her back,

"Dr. Shaw I don't think that's a good idea, just let him handle it for right now."

The woman grinned and shook her head as she approached the bottom of the stairs,

"I didn't come across the universe to sit back here, I want to just see them. I won't say anything!"

Before she could take a step onto the stairs, her entire body froze mid-stride when one of the armored Engineers turned his head in her direction. Her muscles simply locked, and her entire body felt like it had been frozen in place, only it didn't feel like ice. Her chest rose and fell in short gasps for air, her fingers barely twitched as she just moved her eyes to look at him. Just him looking at her made her body stop moving where it was, like she couldn't control anything anymore. Something unnatural had a grip on her, and it made her afraid. Were the Engineers telekinetic?

She tried to speak by forcing the air out of her lungs, it was almost too raspy to understand,

"Da… David…I can't… move…"

The android mumbled something in response, but she couldn't understand him.

Neither of the guardian space jockeys moved, the left one just kept his eyes on her. He was the one holding her there; somehow. His face was stern, almost meaner looking than Zarek's. If that was even possible.

A noise from up on the stairs made her move her eyes; the only thing she could move. Her chocolate colored eyes were met with a familiar muscular figure, he held a hand out to the Engineers, like he was waving them to stop. Of course no real emotion was displayed on his face, from what she could tell from the bottom of the stairs. It brought her a tiny sliver of relief to know he was still watching out for she and David.

The guard didn't even move, but the invisible hold on the two of them ceased; dropping them both to their knees at the bottom of the stairs. Huge calming breaths filled Ellie's lungs as she looked up at the left guard, in disbelief about his power. Was it just an ability? Was it something to do with his suit? She had never felt so tiny, so fragile.

Up at the top of the huge staircase, Zarek dropped to one knee and was speaking to the unseen councilmen. She could just see the tops of the chairs, she didn't know how many were even up there, it must not have been all of them. He probably would have to come back to the 'throne room' to explain what had happened on LV-223, and she wasn't sure where she and David would be sent. Where were they going to stay now?

The artificial male behind her reminded her to stand up by gently pulling up on her right arm. The doctor stood upright, glancing back at the left guard once or twice before staring up the stairs at her Engineers descent. He calmly walked down the stairs, and over to the two of them. The red haired woman tried to brush off the strange feeling lingering on her skin, not wanting to be like a child that needed babysitting from him constantly. His dark eyes looked down at her with a small look of endearment, like he was happy to see she was okay. He slowly turned his head to David and began speaking, the synthetic listened and translated the message to Ellie.

"He says we now have a place to stay, thanks to the Elder Council. He is to meet them tomorrow and explain his situation in full to the entire council."

The doctor quickly glanced to the left Engineer guard once again, he wasn't looking at her, her eyes fluttered back to Zarek. She shifted her weight and rushed a question for the artificial human to decipher,

"Before we go, ask him if these guards are telekinetic, I'm just wondering."

After David asked the question, the large space jockey looked at the guard and then back down to the human woman in front of him, he responded cooly. The wiry blond looked to the side of the mess of red hair on his left and relayed the response,

"He said; Yes they are. And he wants to know if you are ready to go?"

The woman seemed perturbed, she slowly tilted her head,

"Where are we going?"

The Engineer nudged her with his hand toward the round circular floor panels behind her, he responded to David with a single word and moved his unemotional gaze passed them. His heavy footsteps echoed in the room as his boots planted into the hard marble, he made his way towards the transport floor panels. The woman felt like she was in a trance, and followed him by turning her head and staring up at his pale scalp. The two Earthlings followed him like stray cats, and the android quietly informed her of his word,

"Home."

[][][]

I did kind of rush this one, because I was so busy, so my apologies for any mistakes. I just like updating regularly. :D And I think that a potentially M rated scene is in favor with those that have already reviewed or messaged me. Hehe. Looking forward to that.

AND,

Please leave a review, let me know what you think. I'd appreciate it a whole lot.

Those are all that keep me updating… And I love hearing from everyone!


	7. Home

Hope everyone is enjoying my view of the Engineer's planet, you'll see more and more as the story progresses. I can't hash it all out on the table right away. :D And yes, things will get steamy between them, I've decided yes to an M rated chapter here shortly.

Hope you all stick around!

-[7]-

This new building was cold and dim, with at least fifteen foot ceilings. The top of them were vaulted with what looked like steel ribs, and they held up fiberglass roofs. The Engineer didn't hesitate in the slightest and moved forward and began poking around immediately. It was safe to assume this wasn't his house, he would have to find his way around too. The blond android did the same, he began nosing around the room, and exploring the small halls to Ellie's right. There were two doorways, one led to a staircase. To her immediate left, the room was a half circle, with what looked like a couch curved the opposite way. It curved toward the wall, and the only thing on the wall were two small rectangular bars about eight feet apart.

David walked through the hall that didn't lead to the stairs. He called out to her once a light clicked on and he was out of sight,

"It's a kitchen."

The woman chuckled and looked around the room. She cautiously stepped off the teleportation platform and watched as the Engineer disappeared up the stairs. She tiptoed her way into the kitchen room with David, looking around. Everything was very angular, and looked like stainless steel. The floor was a dark navy color with silver flecks in the marble. The walls were a light gray, similar to the color of her uniform. Rectangular seams decorated some areas around the walls; and she wasn't quite sure what they were there for.

The countertop didn't seem to have cabinets in it, and above them on the wall were the large square seams. David reached up and pushed against one of the squares, making one of the panels pop up. The synthetic's hand moved the panel to the side, revealing that they were storage cabinets. Various cans and bottles decorated the four shelves inside the one panel, it was just like an Earth kitchen. The doctor behind him cooed in surprise, it was a truly intriguing design.

Behind them, was a medium sized room that was empty. The far wall was all fiberglass, and it had the same hazy snow scene outside it. It looked like wind was blowing hard against the glass, white flakes blocked most of the view. With a peek around the island countertop looking structure, she noticed something odd about the floor. There was a huge rounded off rectangle in the floor, it looked like a big chunk of glass. She noticed the floor here looked like it was made with a metal ribbed looking material, like a black steel bamboo. A curious android behind her noticed the two triangular buttons on the wall, he pressed one and a low humming noise came from the floor. The doctor practically fell backwards as she flinched at the sight of the large section of the floor rise up.

It was floating by itself.

The hovering platform then dropped a couple smaller rounded platforms out from under it, and they hovered about two feet below the outside edges of the large platform. Small LED looking lights lit up in rows on the ceiling, there were probably ten rows of these tiny white lights each spaced about a foot and a half from each other across the entire ceiling. The floating surface and smaller disks were all a clear sage green color, and were about four inches thick. They just hovered there, and the android made a noise like he understood,

"Ahaa, It's a table. Held up by what I can assume to be a magnetic field of some sort. But I'm not sure how it works…"

Ellie observed the table for a few more moments, but then realized the Engineer had disappeared up the staircase. She made her way through the hall and then to the other open doorway on her left, to the stairs. The woman trotted up the stairs and admired the strange mural lining both sides of the staircase. For the most part it was various shades of blue, and had many different styles inside what looked like a painting. There were long swirling strokes, small stippling dots, and lots of depth with shading. It was very swirly, and had lots of foreign writing. It reminded her of a breeze over an ocean. In some places on the wall, she swore she could make out an image of that stone head from the pyramid on LV-223. He must have been important to them, a deity or something. She made a note to herself to ask Zarek later about that head and what significance it had with the Engineers.

As she reached the top of the long staircase, there was a room directly to her left, and the door was open. It was a bedroom of some kind, with what looked like a mattress on the floor. It had a neat set of folded blankets and some pillows around on top of it. There was a small nightstand on either side of the rounded bed, both of them built in curves around the top edges of the bed. There were two triangular buttons beside one of the nightstands on the wall, it must be a magnetic control. It probably would levitate the bed off the ground if she had to guess. This 'levitation' thing really had her puzzled, it was something she would definitely have to find out about.

Another rustling sound from behind her made her slowly turn and walk passed the top of the stairs, going to the other doorway. The top of the stairs came to a 'T' shape with the 2nd floor hall, and what she presumed to be the master bedroom was on the right. The doorway was larger, and had a pointed arch shape to it, similar to the ribbed vaulted ceilings of fiberglass. This entire 'home' had the transparent ceiling, which seemed peculiar in the red haired woman's opinion. Why have a clear ceiling? It didn't make sense other than the use of natural lighting.

As she slowly entered the 'master' bedroom, it was spacious. Ahead of her, almost against the far wall, there was another mattress, it was hovering already like the table in the kitchen. It was wide, a huge bed that was at least the size of a california king mattress, just longer. The sheets were a deep burgundy color, it was perfectly made. Large pillows were strewn across the top side of the bed, nearest the wall. The room was elongated, and on her left there were large panels in the wall. She slowly bit her lip and scanned the rest of the room, as she turned her head to the right, there was another doorway on the right wall. The hall curved so she couldn't see to where it led. The red head slowly made her way through the smaller doorway, she could hear movement, and what she thought was the sound of water running. The Engineer was probably back here.

The left side of the brief hall had a couple tall mirrors lining the wall, making her briefly glance at her messy hair. She looked like a disaster in her opinion, she needed to get cleaned up. Again.

As she entered the small room, she saw directly to her left, there was a small countertop with a bend downward in the middle, with a tiny grate on the bottom. It looked like a futuristic sink, only without a spout. The sound of running water made her glance up to the right, a small half wall branched off the wall to her right. It came halfway into the room towards the left wall, and there was water dropping from a small platform above it like rain. Her heart jumped into her throat and she tensed up upon seeing the figure standing on the other side of the half-wall. Her Engineer friend was stark naked showering on the other side of the short wall. A red hue lit up her face as she took in what was in front of her.

His huge upper half was most of what she could see, the half wall stopped just below his lower back. Not that she wanted it to drop lower. The doctor took a slow step backward, trying to be silent. Her hand now was over her mouth, her eyes glued on him. She didn't want to make a sound, not to startle him, and she surely didn't want him to know she was gawking at him while he was undressed. His right side was to her, his face toward the right wall. Huge chiseled muscles glistened under the water, his bulging shoulder blades protruded from his back as he shifted under the pouring water to let it rain on his face. The droplets tan over his huge arms as he ran his hands over his scalp, his hands nearly covering all of his hairless head. The doctor quietly shifted her feet back across the floor, no longer interested in the bathroom. She had no idea how he would react if he saw her looking at him. It was just fine if she got to look at the bathroom later.

As she backed out into the hall, he sighed, releasing a deep hum along with it. It was a very low pitched sound, like a low key on a piano. As soon as she backed around the corner, she breathed a sigh of relief. Her face was hot to the touch and she could feel her blush getting worse. Why was she embarrassed? The woman felt almost jumpy, she wrung her hands together and tried to think of other things. No doubt he was perfectly built, like a grecian god, but he was an Engineer.

Another frustrated huff of air escaped her lips as she shook her head, staring at the main part of the bedroom. Were they staying in here together? No. Ellie shook her head, she was going to stay down in that other smaller bedroom. Zarek wouldn't want her here anyway. She didn't want to try and rob the Engineer of the room he seemed to claim already anyway.

Why would she even think of staying with him? All of these thoughts frazzled her mind, she didn't know what was making her like this. She supposed she just felt attached to him because she was here with just David, who couldn't really _feel_ anything.

A heavy footstep clapped the marble floor behind her. Ellie felt a light nervous shock run up her spine as she turned to face the space jockey. His large body was a lot closer to her than she expected. He had a look of fascination, and had his brow pushed together as he looked down at her. His lower half was covered by a thick low hanging black cloth that touched the floor. His straight posture made him just appear that much taller to her.

The red head's face began to match her hair, she fumbled over her words,

"Sorry about that. I didn't see anything…"

She trailed off when his hand reached up and gently touched her warm cheek. He didn't seem to be too concerned with what she had said, since he didn't understand anyway. Blushing wasn't something he could probably do, it really piqued his curiosity. The contact was soft, very subtle, like a butterfly had landed on her cheek. This huge alien was far more gentle than she thought he was could be, it seemed so strange.

Her cheeks were flushed and warm, she felt like she was burning up even though it was freezing cold inside this housing unit. She wanted to pull away. This wasn't something she should be doing, allowing her informant to get too close to her. If he was even trying to get close to her, she didn't really know what to think. His emotions were difficult to decipher, especially when she didn't know what to think herself. She didn't know what he was thinking. It troubled her.

The gentle contact from his hand was surprising as he slowly traced his fingertips around to the side of her neck, resting his hand on her shoulder and looking into her eyes. The gentle contact felt wonderful, it made her want to collapse into his arms and cry. She could sit in his arms and hide from the world and just cry her heart out, and let go of all her pent up hurt and anxiety. Charlie was the last person to caress her in a way that showed he cared, and it was a bizarre to feel so relaxed while a space jockey did the same. She knew this was wrong. She should slap his hand off of her. Whatever his intentions were, it was wrong. But it didn't feel wrong. It felt, so comforting in a lonely painful world.

Zarek pulled his hand up and pressed his index finger and thumb carefully into her cheek, pinching it just slightly like the red color would rub off. Her mouth fell open and she couldn't resist the urge to huff out a chuckle and push him away. He was pinching her cheeks like she was a little kid, just because he didn't understand how to blush. Her hands playfully pushed at his hard stomach and she looked up at his now surprised face. The alien wasn't sure how to react to her playful outburst, and the doctor then covered her mouth and took a step back. Her expression was one of near horror now. She looked like a child that had knocked over a glass and shattered it on the floor, she looked petrified she had just started giggling and pushing at him. She realized her mistake. She was an adult, she was mature, and was a woman. It wasn't a reaction she ever saw herself having, and she quickly righted herself. She wasn't a giggly school girl, she was a scientist here to get answers. She wasn't here to get friendly and cute with her guide.

The Engineer craned his neck down and looked at her like he didn't understand what was wrong. Those dark eyes no longer made her feel alienated and afraid, they were somewhat comforting, and she felt like she could tell him anything. He may not understand, but he would still listen. He would eventually learn English this way as well.

His deep hollow voice made her get chills,

"Sorry about that."

His words were a bit twisted, and a little hard to completely understand. But what he said made her smile, like he was trying to hard to understand her. He was parroting things he understood, seeing it fit to the situation he was in. It was hard to believe that someone who was once hell bent on destroying her species, was now trying to learn about her. Her heart began to ache, thinking about the fact she'd probably never see any of those humans again. Chances were she would live out her days here, and try to send David back with her findings. However, she would never disclose the location, and she would stop at nothing to make sure David confirmed the secrecy of this location. The human race was not ready for such a discovery.

The sickening feeling in her throat returned. Thoughts of all the people on Earth that would puzzle over her work for years made her have mixed feelings. She could only hope the humans would change, before their greed and destructive ways became their demise.

Ellie felt cold again. All of her embarrassment flew out the door as she thought of living here until she died. The comfort the space jockey had showed her made her want more. She wanted to be held and taken care of still, she didn't want to face the fact that she no longer had the person that always did that for her. She had no family, no children, and no significant other. It was all gone. She wasn't even sure she would be missed on Earth; a disheartening feeling. Thoughts of the alien baby she pulled out of her body came to mind, and that it was her first child. It was an abomination, and she wasn't sure if she would ever get the chance to have her own family. Her stomach ached in a sickening knot, what an awful experience.

All of these thoughts made her feel ill. Loneliness creeped in like venom, making her quiver and fight the urge to cry. She hated crying, but it was all so overwhelming. Being alone was something she had been used to before she met Charlie, and now that he was gone, she felt alone once more. She hated depending on others, but it was necessary for her sanity sometimes. Even here; Half of these Engineers were intimidating and not accepting of her. It was hard to get the answers you seek, and be afraid the entire time. Zarek was all she had emotionally, since David wouldn't be able to fathom how she felt.

The alien turned his head to look toward the left side of the room, probably done standing there awkwardly with her. Without hesitation, the doctor moved forward and wrapped her arms around his waist, the side of her head pressing barely into his diaphragm. She didn't sob, she just let the tears pour out of the corners of her eyes. They were hot against her cheeks, and she did the best she could to keep her breathing from becoming loud and ragged. This was it. She needed this, just the contact to make her feel less alone.

This was the last time she would do this, the last time she would bring herself this low and mope on what she had lost. Her hands squeezed into his back slightly, and her arms held around his huge body firmly. It was time to let go of all the hurt.

The space jockey didn't seem to react at first. His entire body was rigid as she embraced him. He didn't seem to know how to react, like he hadn't been hugged before.

Hesitance wasn't something she thought of when she imagined this Engineer. He was always decisive, stern, knowing. It was like he was a predator. He knew what to do, the best way to approach problems. He was a fantastic problem solver, and very direct with his actions.

Zarek slowly put his arms around the trembling woman, his arms enveloping her completely. She couldn't see his face, she wasn't sure she wanted to. He might be wearing a facade of disgust, and that would make her feel worse. She didn't know how he felt, but she knew she needed this. She just wanted that feeling of being held, like she wasn't alone. But she was mentally promising herself, this was the last time she would break apart. Her life couldn't forever be plagued by the guilt and strife brought on by the Prometheus mission and the loss of her parents. None of that mattered now. Her life had a greater purpose, and sitting around feeling sorry for her nearly inevitable losses wasn't helping.

Her grip tightened when she heard his heart beating. It was heavy sounding, like a machine lifting and dropping something enormous. It was loud and slow paced too. She imagined his heart was a lot bigger than hers, so it was more efficient for his large muscular body. It made her feel comfortable, like she could let go and just sit here forever. She cried quietly into his chest, trying not to shiver so much at the cold. His body was warm, and dare she say _inviting_.

Ellie fought the heaves accompanying her sobs, she shook her head and clenched her jaw. The promise to herself kept ringing in her head;

_This is the last time I'll break down. The time for that is over._

She forced a smile on her face at the idea of letting go. She thanked Charlie for being by her side, and mentally apologized for having to let him go. She thought the same of her mother and father. Life was too short to sit and feel miserable for something she had no control over.

A little sound inside his chest made her blink and look up at his face. It simply sounded like him clearing his throat. An expression of compassion played his face, it warmed her heart. A huge hand moved to her face and wiped her wet cheek, making her face feel content again. He was intelligent, no doubt. He knew she was upset, that she was hurting. The alien was compassionate, which wasn't something she had imagined when she first saw him.

When he came out of his stasis tube, he was ferocious and angry. But to her, he had every right to be that way. Waking up face to face with those you swore to destroy must have been enraging. However, Zarek was now kind, and accepting, making her feel welcome in this desolate place.

Ellie knew he understood, he knew what she felt like, to lose everything. She couldn't believe he had been so stable, to be un-phased by what all had happened to him. Perhaps it did effect him, but she couldn't read that right off his tiny emotions.

A shock ran through her body as he suddenly moved down and scooped her up into his arms bridal style. She shook her head and flailed a bit,

"No- Wait, What are you doing?!"

Thick arms held under her knees and upper back, making her lean into his collarbone. His sharply chiseled jaw was so close to her face, it made her admire it silently. His grip on her was almost too tight now, like he was afraid to let her go. He was almost too strong for his own good.

He carried her over and laid her on the mattress; after pulling the thick sheet out. He set her so her back was on the pouffy pillows, and covered her lower half with the dark burgundy cloth. Before she could question him again, he walked around the mattress and clambered up beside her. She immediately tensed up and moved back, unsure of what his intentions were.

The alien made her nearly yelp as he used his strong right arm to pull her over to him. She couldn't really protest as he moved her over to him, since he was so powerful. He wrapped his huge arm around her and easily moved her nearly on top of him. The woman was curled almost into a fetal position, her head against his chest. She wasn't crying anymore, but still felt sad. Her heart still stung from the thousand pieces it now lay in jabbing at her insides.

He just brought her close, but seemed to be careful not to hurt her with his immense strength. She didn't dare move for fear of upsetting him, because it looked like he was just trying to help.

All the fear was melting away, and she felt almost like she was at home. It felt like she was safe from this new frigid world and the few hostile Engineers in it. It gave her the confidence to get up when she next got the chance and explore more of this world like the scientist she was.

She was a little afraid of weighing too much, laying on him like this. Zarek didn't seem to mind though, he was just trying to help her. They were sort of the only two left. He had no family, and neither did she. They seemed almost too perfect.

The thought of David coming in made her feel awkward and nervous as she laid on his chest. He was an android, it probably wouldn't mean anything to him. However, the doctor knew she should move; she should get up and walk away. She didn't want to be emotionally invested in anyone else now. It was too soon.

But that loneliness built up in her heart is precisely why she ached for the contact.

[][][]

Oooh good stuff coming up! It's gonna get good. Hehe! Hope everyone is prepared for the gentle *cough brutal cough* loving that's coming up.

...

Please leave your thoughts! Or if you want to see anything in particular about their planet, let me know. I'll do my best!


	8. Morsani

I'm super stoked about the upcoming chapters. This is one of the few stories I've been ridiculously motivated about. I just keep getting new ideas and I'm always wanting to write.

Enjoy!

-[8]-

A messy pile of auburn hair moved as the woman pulled the blanket off of her head. A groan escaped her lips as she exposed her skin to the cool air. The ceiling was dim as her eyes opened. Ellie blinked a few times, taking in where she was and the warmth of the blanket wrapped around her. As soon as she remembered where she was last, she jerked upright and looked around.

Zarek was gone.

A dainty hand reached up and ran over her wild hair, smoothing it down a bit. She couldn't believe she had fallen asleep on the Engineer's chest. But he was gone now, and probably was at the meeting he was discussing yesterday with those council Engineers.

After she stretched her arms she hopped off the bed and walked into the 'bathroom'. It was silent, she made sure of that before barging in again; just in case.

It was empty, and she was glad to not to have stumbled in on Zarek again. She really wanted a shower, she felt disgusting after what she had gone through in the last couple days. She silently made her way over next to the half wall protruding into the room. On the very end of it, there were two familiar triangular buttons. She pressed the one on the left, and immediately, the small platform that jutted from the wall above her began to rain down on the spot to the left of her. The floor had a slight curve downward, toward a tiny drain seam around the little 'hill' in the marble. It looked very similar to a regular shower on Earth, only with the drain around the edges of the shower rather than in the middle.

She reached out and swiped at the water, testing how warm it was. The water was a bit too cool, she pressed the same button again and then reached out to test it. It seemed to get a bit warmer, after pressing it a third time, the water was a nice temperature. The woman glanced back to make sure David wasn't there, even though it wouldn't matter to him to see her without clothes. She stripped herself of her robe and jumpsuit, hanging them on the sink like structure. She slowly tiptoed into the shower once she was undressed, the water felt wonderful as it poured over her skin.

There wasn't any soap or shampoo that she saw, but it made sense because they didn't really have hair. She stayed in the warm shower for a couple minutes, fully rinsing her hair and wiping her face clean. It never felt so good to be clean. The thought of finding a towel crossed her mind, it was freezing outside the water; she didn't want to get out and not be able to find one. As she opened her eyes and looked around, directly in front of her, there was a thin crease on the wall, she reached out and pushed it. A little section of the wall popped up about an inch and a half, and she slid it to the side, realizing there were about eight black towel looking cloths inside. She took a step back and pressed the opposite button, and the water cut off instantly. She quickly pulled out one of the towels and wrapped it around herself, it was already warm.

After rubbing her hands on the other towels inside the storage cabinet, she realized the warmth was just in the fabric. This was an incredible invention in her opinion, especially for such a cold planet. The towels must have a special fiber that generates a small amount of heat naturally. She continued drying herself off, and got dressed.

…

When Ellie made her way downstairs, she found David seated on the main couch and he was looking at a huge hologram screen. The screen appeared between the two bars on the wall she had noticed, creating a nearly 8ft holographic screen on the curved wall. The blond synthetic immediately piped up when he heard her enter the room,

"Good afternoon , sleep well?"

The woman chuckled and plopped down beside David on the couch,

"I did, thank you. What are you doing?"

The synthetic kept his eyes on the large screen, typing on a keyboard that had appeared in his lap. He clicked a few buttons and pulled up a photo, it was of an older Engineer.

"I was searching for the family ties to our friend. They have an enormous database that has all of the individuals on the planet inside it. It's similar to a police database on Earth. I can find photos and records of deceased individuals too. I believe I've found his family. It looks like many in his bloodline died out, but he has a distant cousin that married into another family group. The colored collars represent which family group someone belongs to."

This made sense, it was a way to distinguish which family each person belonged to. She was very curious as to how the families were different, and how the council was selected.

"That's fascinating… Can you find a map of their planet as well? Or the distribution of the people geographically?"

The android nodded quietly, typing away on the strange keyboard. Screens changed and a map appeared, the planet was a cool blue color, and it seemed to be warmer inside the core; according to the android. He zoomed in on the area they were in, and showed her the 'city' that they were in. It appeared to be built in a groove in the surface of the planet. It wasn't quite underground, but was in a serious valley. She titled her head as she stared up at the map,

"So the city is in a valley… to protect it perhaps?"

"The city is better protected from the high velocity wind and the constant blizzard-like weather. This planet is very cold, it's average temperature is about 40 degrees fahrenheit; on a good day. This planet's temperature plummets at night to far below freezing."

The blond craned his head to look at her as he continued,

"So you could breathe the air here, but it gets so cold at night, the tissue in your lungs would begin to freeze over. You'll need a breathing apparatus to go outside at night for longer than a couple minutes. The wind speeds are that of a category three hurricane normally; they're much higher during a blizzard."

Ellie shuddered at the thought of how bitterly cold it was just in the room, much less how freezing it would be outside. She looked back to the artificial man on her right,

"Why is the planet so cold; does it have to do with the atmosphere? And why would they stay somewhere like this?"

The android tilted his head back and forth for a second, like he was contemplating an answer. He cooly responded,

"Well, the atmosphere is incredibly thick, and it blocks out a lot of direct sunlight, therefore making the planet rather cold on the surface. There aren't many planets that can support complex life like this. If you look at their bodies, they evolved to survive on this planet."

She nodded in agreement, and leaned back against the back of the couch. David kept poking through files while the doctor watched. He knew she had a thousand questions, and was just waiting for her to speak. He pulled up some files regarding their history, and what had happened in the last couple thousand years. The Engineers kept an impeccable record of their history and what all had occurred. David began to explain the findings, since she couldn't read the language,

"It seems that around the time our friend was alive, there was a large controversy as to whether human begins deserved the planet they were created on. This was a major issue for the council, and the decision was in favor of destroying the humans with the bio weapon they had designed a couple hundred years earlier. They were going to restart with planet Earth, before your kind destroyed a life sustaining planet. However, It seems that humans weren't the only species they created, they've created other humanoids based upon their own DNA on another planet as well, but there isn't much information about them here. Not that I can access anyway. "

The thought of the Engineers creating another race similar to humans made the two of them sit for a moment and truly appreciate how advanced they were. Ellie was truly curious about what the other race was like, and where they were. David continued,

"There was a civil war of sorts, right after the outbreak on LV-223. It was a revolt on the decision to destroy humans. Some were infuriated that their loved ones were sent away and killed as a result of their own weapon getting loose on their own people, and the mission was abandoned after the loss of those on LV-223, and those during the civil outbreak. The civil battle only lasted a couple years, but resulted in many deaths. That was the last major issue, and that was almost two thousand years ago. The only other major events were the deaths of some of the council members, and the precise divisions of their territories. They also seem to have a bit of a problem with rogue ships of Engineers that 'seceded' from their planet causing issues with piracy, among other things."

Brown eyes shot to the android, her eyebrows furrowed together in a mixture of confusion and misunderstanding,

"Territories? How is the planet divided?"

"For the last… maybe five thousand years, it seems that there were loose divisions governed by families. They are similar to states, and are governed by family clans or groups. But that's just the governing body, not everyone is given the colored collar to represent a family. They're more like, nobles. They're royal families that govern over territories, and anyone else is free to move between the territories, even though the way they're governed isn't too different between each area. It is an easier way for justice to be administered, and a more fair way to conduct courts. Our friend was an officer for the council."

Her hands moved to her collar, her fingers tracing the stiff royal blue fabric. It stuck straight up, and protected her neck with a couple inches of material. David noticed her actions and commented,

"It seems that our friend is a great descendent of one these families as well. This is their leader-"

He pulled up the image of a wiry and frail looking Engineer, his posture slouching appropriately with his age. Ellie shook her head and nearly whispered her next words,

"Why would we be given collars then?"

The synthetic shrugged and smiled at her,

"I suppose he wants us to be recognized as higher than common families, because if we weren't part of a royal family, we would be put in a different area. The nobility are required to live among their own families, and their regular citizens do not live in the same area. Those seem to be the only two divisions, their poor are taken care of by the citizens. It's a very family oriented society, and the young, old, and poor are taken great care of here."

How humbling, she was just handed a collar, while common families are not given any. She wasn't sure they deserved these collars, but it was the easiest ticket for her to move all about the areas. Another questioned popped into her mind,

"Do these Royal families make themselves very… secluded from the others? Or do they intermingle with regular citizens?"

"From what I can tell, it's a little different between families. There is an orange collared family that seems to be the most detached from regular life, but most of what I'm reading shows that the nobility seems to intermingle with no issues. Discrimination doesn't really seem to be an issue for them. They are governed by a council, the thirteen heads of each family, and issues are debated and decided upon by these thirteen individuals. I imagine our friend Zarek is appearing in front of the council now to explain what had happened on LV-223."

The two of them were quiet for a couple minutes, the only sound was David's hands shifting around and clicking buttons on the keyboard. She stared at the photos of what he was looking at, and no doubt he was memorizing every detail of what he read. She envied the android's quick processing, he understood languages and information so much quicker than everyone else.

The red head bit her lip, thinking about how she would learn to communicate with the people on this planet. Their technology would surely be able to help, but how could she ask to have help learn their language?

"David… can you help me understand their language? I mean… I don't want to rely on you for translation constantly."

The synthetic sat quiet for a few moments, thinking of the easiest way to help her. He looked over to her and smiled that same artificial grin,

"I can teach you, but it won't be easy. Perhaps we can find something in their technology to aid you in learning their language."

"What do you mean?"

As soon as she asked the question, a low pitched metallic whirring noise filled the room. Ellie flinched and turned to look at the teleportation platform, Zarek appeared alongside a female Engineer.

Immediately, a ton of different ideas ran through her mind. Who was she? Why was she there? Was this Engineer with him because she liked him? Was she part of the council? Was she here for business?

A twinge of jealousy had wafted over her as she stood up to eye the duo entering the room. Her space jockey motioned toward she and David, saying something to the female Engineer in their language. The pale female walked across the room and reached out a hand, as if she wanted to shake hands with Ellie. The female was tall, but only about six feet, not nearly as tall as her Engineer. Her body was lean and muscular, and she wore a similar outfit to Ellie, only her's had a magenta colored collar on the robe.

The doctor hesitantly reached out and shook her hand, looking into the angular dark eyes on her face. Her eyes seemed like they were a lighter color, and were a dark violet, instead of a black/navy color like Zarek's. High cheekbones gave the alien's face an elongated look, and her nose was rather small and straight, leading down to perfectly curved lips. The female space jockey was very elegant, and made the doctor's mouth drop open when she suddenly spoke in English.

"You are Ellie, correct?"

The female Engineer's voice was smooth, and not as deep as Zarek's; but still far deeper than her own. The red head breathed out in disbelief and found herself smiling,

"Yeah... Yes, I am Dr. Elizabeth Shaw."

"I see. My name is Morsani, I am a scientist that specializes in Earth Studies."

Ellie nodded quickly and briefly gave Zarek a look of utter shock before responding,

"So that's how you know English so well? I'm really surprised."

"I can tell, only a handful of us can speak your language. There are very few who study Earth and it's species now; since the Civil War. That's actually what I came here to speak to you about."

The doctor began feeling excited, forgetting the little hints of jealousy she had felt earlier. There was another scientist now, a friendly one at that. This could be her connection to the science behind the Engineers and all of their technological advances. She crossed her arms and half smiled at Morsani,

"You came to talk about language? Or my home planet?"

The tall Engineer smiled to her, never losing her eye contact with the doctor.

"I have many questions for you. However, I'm actually here to make a proposition. Officer Zarek informed me that you cannot speak our tongue, and he wants me to give you the capability to do so."

This made the doctor stare at her in contemplation for a few moments. Give her the capability to speak in the Engineer's language? She wasn't sure how to take this, or what the offer really entailed.

"What do you mean? How would that…"

Ellie trailed off, her mind still racing through the possibilities of what the alien could have meant. Morsani shifted her weight and nodded,

"I understand your confusion. What I mean, is that we can give you the ability to understand and speak our language, rather than spend months teaching Zarek to understand yours. The way this would work, is through a specialized chip with artificial cells effecting the receptors of the part of your brain called the Wernicke's Area. Since you're a doctor, I don't have to tell you that it is the part of the temporal lobe that has the most control over your auditory cortex, understanding, and speech. It is a small procedure we use for those who suffer brain damage to this area, so they can correctly formulate and understand speech again. For you, we could use the same process, and it would simply give your brain the understanding of our language, only spoken language, not written."

Before she could continue explaining, the doctor shook her head in confusion. She didn't appear to understand what was being said, she didn't think it was possible. A 'simple procedure' that could correct a faulty brain function dealing with something as complex as speech? After a couple moments trying to grasp the idea, the female Engineer chuckled,

"I understand your confusion doctor. I can give you the information so your… machine… can help you read through them to better understand the procedure if you are unsure. I just wanted to make the offer to you, since your friend has difficulty understanding you."

David blinked and straightened his lips in a disappointed expression, machine? It made him feel like just an object when he was spoken of that way.

Ellie took a deep breath and blew up her hair on her forehead with her breath,

"I'd like to look at it, just to be certain. That's an incredible offer, and I'm sure it's an expensive procedure, what did you want in return for such a favor? I can't imagine it's free."

Morsani chuckled once more, grinning a large white smile,

"I didn't mean to come across like I was hiding my intentions. I would simply like a sample of your tissue and blood. I have never had the chance to directly study a living human being, and I would be glad to perform the simple procedure in exchange for these two things. I honestly mean you no harm, I just would like to study how your DNA has changed since it's creation, and how you've evolved to survive on your changing planet."

Everything the female space jockey said made perfect sense to her. Being a scientist, she understood the curiosity behind the Engineer's offer. She would want to do the same to the Engineer's DNA when she had the chance. Before the red head could formulate a response, Morsani spoke again,

"I'll leave my contact identification number with you, and this way you will be able to contact me at any given time using this computer. I'll leave you to consider my offer, and you are welcome to contact me when you've made your decision. Also, if you need any help, or if you wouldn't mind meeting with me again another time, I have so many questions for you. I apologize if I come across as…nosy."

"Of course! I'd really like that actually, I have a ton of questions for you as well!"

Morsani reached out again to shake her hand,

"Thank you for your time Dr. Shaw. I will be in contact with you."

The red head excitedly shook the Engineer's hand, smiling to her as she turned to leave. It was really nice to finally find someone who would talk with her, and had so much in common with her. It felt like she had made a new friend.

The female Engineer spoke to Zarek briefly in their language before stepping up onto the teleportation platform. The three remaining individuals followed her with their eyes as she did so. Morsani turned toward them as the teleportation platform began to glow, waving to them and speaking in English one last time,

"Dr. Shaw, One last thing. I know it must be hard for you to be so far from your home, but trust me, you'll find many of us are actually very accepting of your people. It's been a long time since the human controversy, it's really died down quite a bit. So, I welcome you to our planet. And…Zarek will take care of you while you're here, he's sworn to protect since he is still an officer of the council. I've also noticed he is pretty fond of you."

[][][]

I can't seem to write enough for this story… really. I have no idea how long it's gonna go for, but it doesn't look like it's ending soon. xD

R and R please!


	9. Market

These reviews are making me all giddy and motivated. I'm literally writing this instead of doing homework.

-[9]-

Things were quiet now. It had been an hour since Morsani had left, and David was clicking around the recorded history of the Engineer's planet, and the distribution of the cities. He had looked up the procedure to alter her speech capabilities and from what he could tell, it had a very high success rate. The details she read were a bit scary to think of, but she trusted them. Their technology was a lot better than what was back home.

Zarek had disappeared up the staircase after waving to them as a greeting after Morsani disappeared. He hadn't come down in the last hour, and was absolutely silent.

Ellie was sitting and getting tidbits of information about their history, culture, and traditions. The way she looked at it, the more she knew, the easier it would be for her to fit in. She also didn't want to step on the toes of any of the locals, she really wanted to make them like her. She knew that Morsani was being a tad optimistic when she said that many of their people liked her. Many of them probably saw _her_ as the alien, and would be afraid of her. Some of them might really remember her, and what was going to happen to her people. Truth is, she couldn't predict the reaction she would get. The reactions would probably be different between all sorts of different people.

A deep breath filled her lungs as she pushed herself up on her feet, glancing back at David.

"I'm going to go outside, I want to get out a little."

The android looked at her with feigned surprise, he knew that she would want to go out sometime. He softly spoke up to her,

"I figured as much. You should probably take Zarek with you, or myself."

She shook her head and made her way towards the stairs,

"No it's all right, I'll take Zarek with me."

Although David was the one who could directly communicate with them, she figured she should take him instead of the synthetic. Taking an android was just asking for trouble, especially since no one knew who he was; and the fact they thought of him as a lesser being.

After making her way up the steps and to the master room doorway, she peeked around carefully. She didn't want to barge in, in case he was changing or something. As she peeked around the corner, she noticed he was standing in front of a computer screen. It was on the center wall, glowing between two bars she hadn't noticed last time she was in there. As she entered the room, she cleared her throat to let him know she was coming.

The Engineer was dressed differently, wearing a familiar looking silver plated armor. The armor was bonier looking than the two guards she had seen in the Council's throne room. Another thing that stuck out to her was the rigid looking collar that stuck out of the top of the cuirass. The stiff blue material wrapped around the back of his neck and down onto the armor chest plates. The wrists of the uniform looked like gauntlets, and his feet had large heavy looking boots. He was really intimidating looking now.

He looked stressed though, he wore a rather stoic expression. Ellie mentally kicked herself for not asking David to at least tell her how to ask him to go with her. The woman walked over to him and saw that he looked even more emotionally taxed than she had thought. Under his eyes had a slightly purple tint, and there were rings under his eyes. If he was troubled, it would probably be better for him to get out and get some air. She knew she needed it too.

Hesitantly, she motioned with her hand for him to come along. He nodded and followed her back out to the main room. The blond robot turned to face them as he noticed their presence, platonically smiling at the duo. The doctor pointed at the platform and asked David to translate,

"David, would you mind telling him I'd like to go for a walk, in a common place maybe. And I'd be really grateful if he'd come with me."

The android translated her question for the Engineer, and he nodded. A huge white hand nudged her toward the teleportation platform like he was telling her he was ready to go. The two of them stepped up onto the platform, and the synthetic stared at them pleasantly,

"Have fun."

…

There was a lot to take in when Ellie and Zarek arrived at their destination. Directly across from her were more teleportation platforms, the row went far to her right. The area they were in looked like a dead end street made of steel walls. The solid material went up only about twenty feet, and then there was fiberglass. The fiberglass formed a hall almost, over to her right, where she saw a huge dome over a larger area. In this huge area, there were many Engineers walking around. Some of them wore jumpsuits, some of them wore long robes, and some even wore toga looking clothes. They casually walked into the huge area, and she saw that small shops lined the curved dome. What stood out the most, was a massive crystalline formation in the center of the area. It looked completely natural, it was very jagged and reached up at least twenty feet. It reminded her of a tree, and was a beautiful aqua blue color, and was partially transparent. The top of the Dome was about thirty feet up, and there were four large vents on the sides of the dome.

The red head literally had to force herself to close her mouth because she was in awe at the bazaar-like area. These must be the common Engineers, she didn't see any with colored collars right away. There were at least a hundred space jockeys in the area, some carried some strange objects, some had children with them. A young Engineer ran right in front of her and paused when he got a look at her face. The Engineer was almost a foot shorter than her, and had a scrawny look to him. He wore a navy blue toga looking thing around one shoulder, and a small silver plated belt held it around his small waist. His eyes went from Zarek to her a couple times as he stepped out of the officers way.

Ellie slowed her walk to look into his eyes as they walked passed him. The kid's mouth was hung open as he eyed her like an animal in the zoo. The woman smiled and waved at him, causing him to look around in surprise and dart off. It was a reaction that a child on Earth would have had. As she lost sight of him, she turned back to gaze up at the magnificent crystal formation that stood in the center of the shopping area. As she gazed around, she noticed a couple children darting around on what looked like skateboards without wheels. It made her chuckle and watch them weave in and out of the older Engineers. Her brown eyes then turned to the nearest little shop, that had what looked like potted plants on it. Something about the plants was off though.

A slight tap on Zarek's arm made him realize what she was looking at. The huge alien followed her over to the small hovering tables that had these little potted structures on them. They looked like vines reaching up towards light that didn't exist, there was nothing supporting them either. They were just the base of a vine, no leaves or flowers were on them. The doctor leaned in close, looking at them. It looked hard, and also rather crystal-like. She gently reached out and touched the tip of one of the 'vines'. It was hard to the touch, and the one she had touched was a rich blue-green color, with flecks of what looked like gold in it. A small sound escaped her mouth that sounded like a 'wow'.

The delicate looking formation was metallic, like it was blown glass. It looked like it could be natural, but at the same time, looked almost fake because of it's crazy shape.

Zarek seemed to take interest in another male Engineer that began speaking with him. The two looked like they were having a rather friendly conversation, she couldn't understand so she decided to press on. She didn't want him to hover over her like a guard dog constantly, and was curious about the other little shops.

The woman didn't stray too far from the two as she kept admiring the trinkets for sale, and observing the behavior of the Engineers around her. Many of them gave her surprised glances, and some even moved away from her. She definitely stuck out in a crowd with her peachy skin and red hair. As she neared the next small shop, she noticed a small child sitting on a hovering bench crying; to her right.. Her maternal instincts kicked in and she walked over and knelt in front of the child. The ground here resembled a silvery cobblestone, and was hard to kneel on.

The young female Engineer rubbed at the corners of her black teary eyes. A gentle hand touched her knee and the red head smiled warmly at the young alien. The small Engineer stared at her for a few moments, her crying ceased fairly quickly. The sadness was replaced with unbridled curiosity. A small pale hand reached out and brushed at some of her hair, and a small smile lit up on the young girl's face. The doctor found herself grinning like an idiot as this little girl ruffled some of her hair, now smiling up at the human. Children were so innocent, and so intrigued by others. The small lighthearted moment didn't last long, a huge male Engineer came barreling over and pushed Ellie aside, knocking her to the ground on her left elbow.

The human's head whipped in the direction of the assailant, a mix of disbelief and anger playing her face. How dare he just knock her aside while she was comforting the young Engineer?

The doctor jumped to her feet and stood right up in front of the Engineer, earning glances from those passing by. The male had tried to turn to the young girl, but stopped to glare down at the defiant human when she jumped back to her feet. He smirked and reached out to grab or smack at her, the woman angrily knocked the half assed attack to the side. She was tired of getting pushed around. After the encounter with the other huge male Engineer on the mineral ship, she was done taking shit from everyone. She wasn't out to start trouble, but would not stand for being shoved around by those who didn't like her. It was time for a little respect to be had. She also didn't want Zarek constantly sticking up for her either, she wanted to be respected because of her bravery. After all, their DNA was identical; so what if she looked a little different.

The male furiously reached out and snagged a handful of scarlet hair and yanked her close to him, her toes barely touching the ground. Ellie dug her uncut fingernails into his gloveless hand as he pulled her over, earning a teeth clenching glare form him. He spat enraged words at her, she assumed them to be curses toward her. A larger crowd gathered around, a few spoke out to try and calm the huge brute. He ignored them and squeezed harder on the hair he had in his enormous hand, pulling tighter on the strands.

After a couple seconds contemplating her next move, the woman used her right foot to kick him in the kneecap as hard as she could. The Engineer chuckled at her attempt to harm him and tossed her back on her rear end, her elbows half catching her upper half. She winced and sat up, noticing that Zarek was staring at her from the other store. Had he been watching her? He was letting her stick up for herself finally? Although a small part of her wanted him to intervene, it was uplifting to know he was allowing her to take care of herself.

A young male Engineer walked over and gently touched the arm of the troublemaker, cooing something in his ear. He seemed to be trying to diffuse the situation. Ellie slowly got to her feet as the larger Engineer shifted his gaze to the smaller male that spoke to him. A huge left hand reached over and knocked the smaller Engineer back into the gathering crowd, a few random space jockeys offering an arm to catch him. This infuriated the woman further, she couldn't believe he would strike someone who was just trying to help, on top of throwing her to the ground. As soon as the young male had been thrown aside, Zarek rushed forward and grabbed the male's arm and turned him. As soon as the huge male turned back, the larger one was struck in the left side of his jaw with a swift punch.

Ellie darted over and scooped up the young Engineer from the bench and carried her over to some random females in the crowd, holding her out with a friendly smile. The females instantly took the young girl to protect her from the worsening brawl in the bazaar. As the red head glanced back, she saw the huge Engineer had struck Zarek back and cut his cheek under his left eye. As Zarek lifted his fists like he was going to box with him, the troublesome Engineer seemed to notice something. As he dropped down on his knee in front of Ellie's friend, the crowd seemed to move away, whispering to one another as they dissipated.

Her friend then lowered his arms and shouted at the kneeling Engineer, and pointing in a direction. The larger one just kept nodding and shaking his head, a remorseful expression on his face. He surprised Ellie as he stood up, and turned to walk away to her left. The large alien shot her a hateful glare as he passed by her, heading in the direction to leave the shopping area. The space jockey officer scared her as she turned back to see him directly in front of her, a tiny sheepish expression on his face. It looked like he had a tiny bit of pride in his eyes, and nodded his head to thank her.

…

They had poked around the marketplace for a couple hours after that incident, and there wasn't much excitement after that. The Earthling got a bunch of questioning glances, and smiles from other female Engineers, perhaps they respected her strength. She wasn't sure. Once they were back at their home, Zarek went up to the room again. Ellie assumed he was showering after fighting and going out into the market. The blond android was still on the computer, looking through files when they got back. She decided to wait her turn to shower and speak with David,

"You're still looking through their history?"

He nodded, not looking over to her as he sifted through pages; memorizing them as he read them. The doctor plopped down beside him casually, she was starting to get used to their home. It was so peaceful here, so quiet. The android then asked her a pointed question,

"You going to call that Engineer Morsani and inform her of your decision anytime soon?"

The red head gasped and put a hand to her chest,

"I totally forgot! Please, would you dial her up?"

The synthetic agreed and began the process of calling her through the computer, it was a visual call. The female Engineer picked up fairly quickly, and smiled when she saw the two of them.

"Good to see you, how are you Dr. Shaw? Come to a decision have we?"

The woman nodded and shifted her weight uncomfortably as she explained her reasoning,

"Yes, I'm doing all right. I'll go through with it I think, I mean… your technology has to be much better than ours on earth, and I trust you. And I'm fine with you taking blood and tissue samples."

The procedure didn't require her skull being cracked open, it was an injection into the base of her brain. The injection would leave stem cells and some artificial cells, pre-programmed with DNA and information that was needed to be carried to the Wernicke's area of her brain.

Morsani's wide grin didn't change as she continued,

"Great to hear! I'll set it up for this evening, in a couple hours, if that's all right?"

The sudden proposition made a tingle of nervous energy jump up Ellie's spine as she straightened up. Her gaze fell as she tried to take in the quick offer, it was so soon. She expected to have some time before the procedure, but it was happening sooner.

"That seems okay… I guess."

"I understand your apprehension Dr. Shaw, I assure you we will not harm you. I'll do the procedure myself. We will come pick you up in about two hours, please stay hydrated."

…

The world seemed hazy as she opened her eyes. The world was blurry as she blinked repeatedly, trying to get her bearings. Her mind was numb as she looked around. It was still dark in the room, she hadn't remembered even making it back from the lab. She faintly remembered Morsani telling her it would make her recent memory a bit fuzzy, and cause her to wake from sleep a bit more frequently. From what she could tell, it was still dark, the only light came from a large computer screen at the wall nearest the foot of the bed.

Thats when she saw him.

Zarek was sitting at the foot of the bed, his head in his hands. His huge body was trembling and he was breathing in slow forced breaths. The red head sat up and clenched her hands around the blanket on her chest, realizing she was wearing an loose robe. The alien was silent, the light of the screen barely lit up his shoulders and head. He was wearing just a robe as well, but his body was visibly shaking beneath the dark fabric. Her eyes looked up to the hologram screen, a list of Engineers decorated the screen with pictures beside each little section. It was a list.

Then the realization hit her like a ton of bricks as she noticed something familiar in each of the pictures, they were all wearing royal blue collars.

It was the list of his deceased family.

Her hand left her chest and covered her mouth, he had finally stopped and looked at them. He had been gone a terribly long amount of time, and all of his immediate family must have passed on. Stasis is what kept him alive for so long, and that made him outlive his family. Her eyebrows pushed together in anguish and she slowly shook her head.

The doctor slowly found the courage to lean up and crawled on her knees to the foot of the bed, right up behind him. He didn't move or make a sound. She sat on her knees and reached out, gently touching his shoulders and leaning forward,

"Zarek…"

The alien took a deep breath when she said his name, he didn't speak a word though. As she leaned slightly to see the right side of his face, she noticed he had his head in his hands. It was hard to see his whole face, but she could tell...

He was _crying_.

An icy chill covered her body like a blanket of snow as she took in what she saw. This huge, tough, and ferocious space jockey was crying. It was the first real weakness she had seen in him, and it was too human for her to bear. The tenderness he had shown her was comforting, and it made her understand he was compassionate. However, seeing him break down like she had done, was shocking. The woman pushed his shoulders slightly, trying to get his attention. He didn't budge.

Ellie realized that wouldn't get her anywhere, and she settled for hugging him. Her arms didn't make it around his barrel-like torso, and her head leaned into his bulging shoulder muscles. She hugged him firmly, and weakly smiled. It was nice being the one to comfort someone else now. He needed someone, and she was it. This sort of thing never occurred to her when she saw him come out of his stasis module. He was sharing his planet with her, his home, his _bed_. It felt like she truly mattered again. He must have been trying to resist looking at his families obituary files for the first few days, to keep himself together. She had almost forgotten about it since she hadn't seen much of a reaction.

His large chest rose and fell, tugging on her arms slightly as he took deep breaths to calm himself. The red head squeezed him and began to hum. It was all she could think of to comfort him. Her father used to hum to her when she was afraid to be left alone when she went to bed. Her father sounded terrible, but it was relaxing to have him there and trying to comfort her while she was afraid of the dark. She hummed an old folk song from her childhood to his back, her cheek was pressed into his right shoulder blade.

Even though he was distraught, Ellie really enjoyed sitting with him. He was hurt and lonely like she was, and it was great to have someone who knew how you felt around. She really looked forward to when she could directly communicate with him. Morsani had said it would take around twelve to sixteen hours to fully kick in. The red head had only slept for about five hours, and knew she would probably be able to speak in the morning. Being able to speak was a truly exciting thought, she would be able to converse with him directly and have him understand her better.

Her jumbled thoughts were dissipated as he turned to look back at her. The doctor sat up, releasing him slightly, her eyes meeting with his saddened dark ones. Out of instinct, she tried to comfort him,

"I'm so sorry Zarek…It'll be okay."

It felt so good to be comforting someone. It really lifted her up, feeling that someone needed her. Zarek truly needed her; needed her there to comfort him since he was alone now. They had so much in common, and only a speech barrier keeping them a little apart. The alien blinked a few times, looking back over his right shoulder at her. The woman smiled and lightly scratched his upper back, she just wanted him to know it was all right. The Engineer had a small hint of emotion of contentment on his face, he looked grateful to her for being there with him.

The woman kept her small smile on her face as she moved around him, scooting up to sit beside him. Her legs below the knee hung off the edge of the bed, not even close to the ground. Zarek's dark eyes were locked on hers, his stoic contemplative expression didn't falter as she gazed up at him.

There was something frighteningly handsome about him. It tugged at her heartstrings to sit and look into his eyes. He had protected her because of his belief that it was right, but why was he still sitting with her? Why was this Engineer bending so far to allow her to stay with him? Did he see her as an object? She couldn't answer any of these questions yet. It would take another couple hours before she could speak to him.

The rings under his eyes were deep and dark again, he looked like he had been destroyed. His eyes fell back to the floor, glassy with sorrowful tears. He didn't gasp or sob, he just looked at the floor with his thousand yard stare. It made her want to jump up and hug him around the neck, but that was just her instinct. He was such a powerful being, he was usually so knowing; and here he was breaking down. Family was so important to their society and it must be devastating to him to know he had no direct relatives left.

A small hand reached out and grabbed the Engineer's larger one. The doctor pulled his hand over and clasped both of her hands around his, pulling it in to her chest. Those black eyes stared into her kind ones, he wasn't moving an inch. The woman held his hand close, a friendly and kind expression playing her face.

Zarek seemed to tense up as she lifted his hand and gently kissed the palm of his hand. She wanted him to know she was there, she cared for him. He was all she had, and she wouldn't lose him to grief and depression. There was a stagnant quietness between them, he didn't seem to know how to react. The woman leaned over and against his bulky right shoulder, humming emanating from her throat again. The Engineer sat quiet for a few moments, unsure of how to react to her sudden cuddliness.

There wasn't really a good way to explain her feelings, she wasn't sure what she was feeling. She didn't mean to come on strong, or make him think she needed taking care of. She just wanted him to feel less alone. Loneliness was always in the back of her own mind, and it made her ache for this small contact. Even when Charlie upset her on the Prometheus, she had not resisted when he held her and tried to comfort her for his mistake. She felt like she had switched places with Charlie now, she was the one comforting someone who needed her.

She wasn't weak. By no stretch of the imagination was she weak. And now, this strong willed Engineer was crumbling, and she wouldn't let him fall. It was her turn to be the rock for someone else, she was the lighthouse in the storm now. It made the loneliness fade as she sat with him, feeling like they could just have each other and be fine.

It wasn't love, not from what she could tell. It was a blinding admiration. He and his people were her creators, and here he was allowing his creation to be close to him. She could comfort her creator, and it was an empowering feeling. It felt similar to comforting a deity, if one could imagine such a thing. She was the first to test the waters here, and see how he reacted toward her. She smiled as she hummed the song to him, her head leaning into the large muscle on his right shoulder.

A small movement on his part made her lift her head and look over to him. They were too close now.

His hand gently grabbed hers and pulled it over to his muscular chest. She could feel herself arching back away from him as he put her hand against his large chest muscles, pulling her close. The moment seemed to last forever. That stoic looking face gave her chills, her lips parted slightly as she stared down at his powerful looking jaw and perfect looking lips. The red head could feel her heart pounding in her chest as he admired her with those abysmal eyes. This intimate moment was making her more nervous by the second, her stomach fluttering as she felt his heart against her hand.

The heavy beating into her palm made her come to reality, and pull her eyes away. She turned her head down to the right, away from that grecian looking statue. Her mind and body were telling her two totally different things, and her heart was simply being left in the dark.

[][][]

Teehee. I'm a horrible person for ending the chapter here. And I'm sorry I didn't go into details about her actual surgery, I figured her getting a special injection wasn't all that exciting. The results will be though. *wink wink*

I've decided I'll try and update when I get five reviews a chapter… That'll keep me motivated. :D


	10. Invitation

I couldn't wait anymore. xD I had to get this out of my system so I could focus more on my finals. I may not be able to update every single day in the upcoming weeks, because I'm about to go through finals at my University. I will be updating as quickly as I can!

And in upcoming chapters, it'll be more drama and more planet exploration rather than just Zarek x Shaw stuff. Even though they're gonna have to sort themselves out after this chapter.

-[10]-

Brown eyes rested down on the marble floor. Ellie leaned back, his hand held hers firmly to his beating heart. It was so heavy in his chest.

The cool air tickled her hand as he released it from his grip, allowing her to retract the appendage. Zarek reached over to her. She couldn't help but look up at him as he placed his large hands on the sides of her head, pulling her head down toward him.

The smallest and most innocent of gestures was placed on her forehead, his lips just barely pressed to her skin. Her whole body lit up in a heated excitement, she couldn't believe what he had just done. Her face was flushed red and she could feel it, almost like her heartbeat was in her face. The woman couldn't figure out a way to respond as she stared at his relaxed expression. Although his eyes were still glassy, he looked so calm, making her feel that much more uncomfortable. She had no idea what she wanted now.

The red head impulsively hopped up, planting her feet on the cold floor and walking a couple steps away from the foot of the bed. It didn't sound like he made a move to follow her, nor did he say anything. The doctor took a few deep breaths, and ran her hands through her hair. She felt almost lightheaded. The little kiss on her forehead felt so wonderful, and made her just crave more attention. But she knew it was wrong. She couldn't put her finger on it, and wasn't sure what she was supposed to feel now.

The woman huffed again and turned to look back at him, unsure of what to expect. Her heart jumped into her throat when she saw him standing and walking toward her. His expression was a very subtle kindness, and his eyes were locked on hers. Instantly she shook her head and held up a hand as if she was going to stop him,

"No, you stay over there."

The alien approached her, almost looking amused at her useless demand. Of course he didn't understand. Her gaze lowered from his eyes to his chest, the front of the robe was parted slightly, exposing his chest muscles. The thought of her hugging him made her feel like her face was boiling, she hated this feeling. Part of her wanted to accuse him of using telepathy or something to draw her in. The good feeling of that comfort she had felt earlier made her ache to jump up and kiss him. Those powerful arms had felt so good wrapped around her body, keeping her safe from the world.

Her relationship with Charlie had been a struggle to keep balanced. They weren't very similar, and their relationship took effort. This; what was happening now, was happening so fast, and came so easily. Even though they couldn't directly speak to one another yet, she felt like she could trust him. He was always watching over her, and she truly admired him and his people's intelligence. It was like a deity was by her side, and cared about her. Not to mention she was physically attractive.

She pouted her lips slightly, mentally scolding herself for thinking such a thing about an Engineer. She had dreamt for so many years of coming to meet them, not ever once entertaining the idea of being intimate with one. The idea seemed preposterous.

Zarek shifted his weight, trying to get a better look at her face. He didn't seem to understand what had suddenly bothered her, and didn't want her to run out if she was upset. He cautiously reached out and touched the corner of her left eye, probably to check if she was crying. The doctor nearly flinched at the sudden touch, making him pull his hand back in surprise. He held his hands up as if he was surrendering and nodded down to her as she looked back at his face. A twinge of guilt hit her, he was just trying to make sure his meltdown hadn't made her upset too. He also was just trying to thank her for comforting him, if she could guess what the kiss to the forehead was for.

Body language was such a pain. She couldn't wait for the results of the procedure to kick in.

The flurry of emotions made her furrow her eyebrows together as she looked up at him. She couldn't take all of this built up tension.

Ellie made his eyes fill with confusion as she reached up and put her hands on his shoulders. Her dainty hands pulled him, making him realize she wanted him to lean down. She had to get this out of the way. It was making her sick to her stomach, going back and forth about what she should do. The Engineer leaned down, and the woman stood up on her toes and cupped his sharp jawline. She impulsively stood up as straight as she could and daintily kissed his soft lips.

The contact was stunningly electric.

The kiss was just a firm peck, and she released him right after. Her hands hovered beside his face and she stared at him wide eyed, her breath caught inside her chest. Those dark eyes were wide also, he seemed to be looking up and down her face, as if he was searching for answers. The air between them was still and quiet for a few moments. The doctor could feel her body almost overheating, but a small relief had crawled over her. It felt right, like she was supposed to do that the entire time. All of the previous tension had been transformed to jittery nervous energy.

Zarek seemed frozen, he didn't move a muscle. The red head slowly lowered her hands, almost concerned that he would be angry with her for kissing him. Feeling under pressure, she dropped her head to her chest,

"I'm sorry Zarek, I shouldn't have… I don't know why-"

The movement of his arms made her trail off, looking up to him with a kicked puppy expression. However, he looked almost happy; and wrapped his left arm around her shoulders, pulling her whole body into his. A large chalk colored hand found it's way into a messy head of hair, urging her to lean her head back. The woman in his arms offered no resistance, her mouth hung slightly open as she looked up at his face. She wanted to kick herself for letting herself feel so lust driven. It felt like she was in the arms of a God, and he was saving her from a tragic past. The world seemed to fade away as her captor craned down and firmly pressed his finely curved lips into hers.

Ellie reluctantly returned the kiss at first, but then felt herself caving and exploring his mouth. Her hands slowly found their way to his abdomen. Hard muscles protruded from under the robe as her small hands moved over the smooth fabric. It was like a dream. The Engineer's grip tightened slightly on her hair as he pulled her into the kiss. Brown eyes half opened and admired his face, and she broke the kiss to smile. A gasp escaped her throat as he suddenly released her hair and swooped down, picking her up off the ground. His forearms held her entire back and pushed her front side into his chest and he kissed her again. It felt like a fairytale sort of kiss.

The sudden contact made her even more eager. All thoughts of hesitations and logical decisions fled her mind. She allowed herself to be enveloped by him, and threw caution to the wind. Love wasn't the first idea in her mind, just the thrill of the intimacy and feeling of being wanted.

[A/N: I just wanted to put a Lemon warning in, just in case there were readers who weren't interested in it. M Rating until the three periods.]

Zarek broke the kiss and made her giggle as he carried her across the floor, tossing her on the bed like a wrestling partner. He surprised her by not climbing up with her, he turned and walked back to the door. Anxiety crawled through her like a parasite, she couldn't believe she was doing this. A nervous hand combed her hair down beside her face, attempting to look decent. She felt that she looked like a mess, but she supposed it didn't matter. The Engineer closed the door to the room, making her heart begin to pound in her chest. She almost felt afraid, he had a huge build; her thoughts slowly went south.

The muscular figure turned back toward her and walked across the room, he didn't seem threatening. However, there was something inherently predatory about the way he walked. The alien closed the distance quickly, and gave her chills as he stood beside the bed.

Huge hands reached down and grabbed behind her knees and slid her over close to him. She couldn't help but have a slight smile plastered on her face as he took her head in his hands and leaned down to kiss her. This kiss was a bit more rough, making her a feel little bit rigid. Her hand made their way to the edges of the robe covering his body, tugging at it.

All logical thought flew out the window, she just thought of what was happening in this moment. The robe parted as he hunched over her, leaning back out of the kiss. The woman flopped back on her back and stared up in awe as he completely shed the dark navy robe. The Engineer then made her inhale sharply as he climbed over her, he caught most of his weight on his left elbow.

She felt so small beneath his huge body. His bicep was probably the size of her head as it held his weight next to her face, pressing into the mattress. Black eyes explored her face as he slid his free hand over her collarbone. A deep breath filled her lungs as she felt chills run over her skin. His lips were so close to hers, it made her ache to lean up to kiss him again. His large hand slid down over her chest, parting her robe. As the fabric fell aside, she reached up with her arms and wrapped them around the back of his strong neck. A tight squeeze from her arms urged him down to her lips, she arched her back to force him to lean even farther down.

The large hand almost massaged her waist, fingertips ran over her protruding hip bones. Her whole body was tingling at the contact, she was not going to lie to herself, she was anxious. Afraid almost.

A little of his weight pressed down onto the front of her body, his lower body pressing against hers. As soon as she felt his lower half, she felt a tad intimidated. From what she could tell, her Engineer friend was larger than she had expected.

Strong hips rocked against her lower half, making her squirm a bit beneath him. Zarek then nuzzled into the side of her neck, allowing her to explore his huge shoulders with her curious fingers. Solid muscle filled her hands as she squeezed the pale flesh in front of her. Warm anxiety urged her to grind her hips up towards his. A sound similar to a wheeze escaped his lips as he angled himself beneath her lower body. Her muscular legs clung to his bulky hips in anticipation, she inhaled sharply as he entered her. She found herself almost writhing away, it was quite painful at first.

Huge arms wrapped around her as a pleasant pace was found. His grip constantly shifted and squeezed hard at various parts of her back and legs, it made her arch and push against him. The Engineer kept his head pressed to the side of hers, listening to her jagged breathing and small noises. The pace was quickly becoming a rough one, making the woman in his arms turn her head away from him to hide her enthusiam. Heavy undulations created a heated friction between the backs of her legs and his muscular lower abdomen. A small hand clapped over her mouth as she felt a rush of ecstasy from her lower half, her pelvic muscles clenched a couple times and she dug the back of her head into the mattress.

The gasps got louder as the minutes ticked by, she found herself gripping wildly at his huge muscles for support. As he roughly ground their lower halves together, her eyes clenched shut and her head was twisting against the blankets. A fuchsia color painted her lips and cheeks, and her mouth hung open for ragged breaths. A huge hand slid it's way up the side of her neck and jaw, and covered her mouth slightly. A pale thumb moved over her lips and parted them, exploring the edges of her soft mouth. A wince accompanied a loud groan from the woman's throat because of a couple incredibly hard thrusts.

After another couple of heated minutes, the ragged movement stopped. The doctor panted and removed her nails from the back of the Engineer, dropping her arms out to her sides. It was a truly exhilarating experience, and her heart pounded in her chest as she relaxed her throbbing muscles.

…

Aching. A lot of it.

That blurry sunlight was peeking through the glass above her head, making her blink a few times to adjust. The room was deathly quiet. A lazy turn of her head made her realize she was alone in the bed, and the master door was closed. Zarek must have woken up before her and left to do whatever space jockey officers do. A combination of a yawn and a groan escaped her throat as she sat up and pushed down the heap of blankets on top of her. A small ache from her lower half reminded her of last nights events. At first it didn't really sink in what she had done.

After a few moments of rubbing her lower abdomen and inner thigh muscles, she felt a nervous wave come over her. She had slept with her friend, her only connection to this world, an Engineer. Both of her hands raised up and pressed into her cheeks, and she shook her head. Small curses escaped her lips as she scolded herself for allowing herself to do something like this. A thousand excuses ran through her mind as she yanked off the blankets and walked across the cold floor toward the bathroom. Her womanhood ached, it had been quite a strain on her entire lower half.

The doctor made her way into the bathroom, whispering to herself about how stupid she was for doing this. As she entered the room, she glanced in the mirrors in the hall to her left. Her hair resembled the top of a palm tree, it frayed out every which direction. She could also see small forming bruises on her hips and sides. With a roll of her eyes she entered the bathroom and started up the shower in a huff, still in disbelief.

The water was warm instantly, and she stepped into the shower. Her movements were jerky, and she scrubbed her entire body with her hands. Frustration overcame her and she pushed open the panel in front of the shower, looking up and down the cabinet for something resembling soap. As she looked under where the towels hung, she saw a little round container. The top and bottom had flat surfaces, and she took off the lid by twisting the top half. Inside, there were small paper-thin flakes; with a rough texture to them. As she took the blue flakes into her hands, they began to cling to her skin and become slippery. She put her hand to her nose, taking a whiff of the blue flakes. It smelled similar to something floral, and was very subtle.

After a couple seconds of thought, she decided to go ahead and use it. She just used a couple of the flakes and cleaned her skin, enjoying the floral smell. After getting cleaned up, she realized she had to go down and face David.

…

Once Ellie got dressed, she had made her way down to sit with David in the kitchen. He had prepared her some of that oatmeal she had eaten on the mineral ore ship. It tasted a bit different to her, but she ate it happily. The synthetic had done some research, and the meal is jam packed with nearly all the nutrients she would need for almost two and a half days. Finally a reason for her lack of hunger recently. The android seemed glad to have her company,

"Sleep all right Dr. Shaw?"

A twinge of anxiety hit her as she looked over to him,

_Did David know? _

The woman shifted uncomfortably and averted her gaze to the bowl in front of her. Her words came across a bit more awkward than she meant them to be,

"Yes, I- I did."

She nervously ate another spoonful of the creamy substance, she could feel David's platonic stare on her face. She didn't want him to pry about last night's events, she would get embarrassed far too easily.

"Something on your mind?"

Her eyes stared into the bowl of the pale meal, the color reminded her of his skin. That feeling of the perfectly smooth skin under her hands, and the weight of his gaze on her. Thoughts of all the small fleeting emotions from last night came rushing back in tidbits. Her face began to feel flushed; and a rosy color crept up onto her cheeks.

The android shifted his weight, looking down at her as he interpreted her reaction.

"Ah, there is. Isn't there?"

"It's nothing, I was remembering a dream I had."

She lied through her teeth, looking up to the curious man. His eyes were scanning her face, reading the scant emotions that were hidden to most human beings. A nod made her feel a bit more relaxed, it felt better knowing he wouldn't pry further. He probably already knew anyway.

"I received a transmission from your new friend, Morsani. She invited you to her lab today; she said to come at your leisure, because she will be there all day."

This information really made the doctor perk up. An invitation to see an Engineer's science lab? This sounded unreal.

David knew instantly what her answer would be. The tiny smile on his face grew wider, if he could feel excitement; this was it. The woman hopped up off the hovering seat and made her way around the counter, dropping the bowl beside the large kitchen sink. Her tone instantly changed from awkward to enthusiastic,

"That's fantastic! Lets go!"

[][][]

Oooh I hope that was up to everyone's expectations! I had a tough time writing it actually. ha! Apologies for any mistakes!

R and R please! :D


	11. Trip

I just wanted to thank everybody who is reviewing. Really. I totally appreciate it, and I can't believe how many people have reviewed it so far! I feel fortunate to have readers who take the time to review and let me know what they think. You guys are great!

Hell, I'm considering making another Prometheus story, guess we'll see how this one goes. :D

-[11]-

The entrance to Morsani's lab was an elongated foyer, long tables ran the length of both of the walls on her sides. On each of the tables, there were huge framed photos, large vases, and more on each of the walls above the tables. The 20ft hall led to a large sitting room, couches were in a circle around another raised circular platform. The floor had what looked like dark red carpet; leading up to the circular sitting area.

As they walked towards the siting area, David began looking at the artifacts on the walls. Ellie kept her eyes on the sitting area, and the large rectangular window on the farthest wall that led to a blindingly white room. As soon as she entered the sitting room, a familiar face emerged from the hall to her left.

"Hello Dr. Shaw. I'm so glad you could make it."

The woman perked up and walked over to the female Engineer and shook her hand, her words brimmed with excitement,

"Hi Morsani, I'm really grateful you'd let me come see your work."

The Engineer nodded to her and motioned for her to follow, turning back to the hall she came from.

"You are more than welcome Doctor, you may come anytime you wish. I imagine you are just as curious about me and my people as I am about yours. I feel that we may have a lot of information for one another. So out of curiosity, how are you liking your stay so far? Have any trouble with the others?"

The doctors gaze fell to the floor and she chuckled,

"Just a little… I seem to have caused a bit of trouble in the main market area. A male Engineer… got upset with me for speaking with a young child."

"Engineer?"

The word rolled off the alien's tongue in a strange way, she didn't seem to understand. The doctor chuckled and nervously rubbed her hands together, twiddling her thumbs. She hadn't told them how she referred to their people.

"Oh, I hadn't told you, sorry. My team and I referred to your people as 'Engineers' because we already had a belief that it was you that created us. The nickname seemed appropriate."

The female alien couldn't help but chuckle and agree with her as she opened the door on the right side of the hall; leading directly to her lab. The lab was a huge room, there were long tables extending across the room. Some of them were pretty bare, some had vials and bottles all over them. On the far wall of the lab, there was a glass wall. What was on the other side is what got Ellie's attention.

On the other side of the glass, was the first natural foliage she had seen since being on their planet. The colors were very different from plants on Earth, most of the leaves on the plants were a variant of a dark violet, red, green, or blue. There were tons of different plant species inside the greenhouse, and Morsani noticed her sudden fascination with the vegetation. The Engineer leaned back against one of the tables,

"I'm afraid there are some plants in there that may be toxic for you to breathe in, so I can't let you in there."

Small hands touched the glass as curious brown eyes scanned the foliage, it wasn't so different from plants on Earth. A mouthed 'wow' escaped her lips as she leaned back slightly, trying to keep her nose from pressing to the glass like a kid at a window. The female behind her spoke again,

"If you're that interested in the nature on our planet, I'm sure Zarek would be glad to take you once he gets off duty. I imagine he's been pretty busy trying to get up to date on procedures and such with the council. Speaking of which, would you mind if I test your understanding of our language so far?"

The sudden proposition made Ellie nervous, she wasn't sure if the procedure had worked. She didn't really feel different, but she needed to have confidence in their technology.

"Uhh sure! Want to tell me about yourself? Or anything you think I need to know about your culture?"

The alien nodded and turned her body toward her. David kept walking near the windows and staring out, not really paying much attention to the two women. He would be surprised if Ellie could know how to speak already, she would probably have a little difficulty.

Morsani took a deep breath and began speaking in her native language, speaking slowly to facilitate the human's understanding,

"My family is - and we are - focused on science. - - for orange -."

Ellie's eyes were wide as she stared at the alien speaking to her, she had missed a few words. It was unbelievable that she could understand some language from a surgical procedure. Her body felt tingly with nervous energy as she shifted and tried to respond in what she thought sounded right in their language,

"I misunderstood the piece about oranges."

A brief chuckle from the alien made the situation more humorous, the alien waved her hands slightly as she responded,

"Not oranges. Orange the color. It's a family - doesn't care for humans because - - civil war."

The words were making much more sense to the doctor than she could have hoped. She didn't want to believe it, but it had worked. She understood the language for the most part, as long as the Engineer spoke clearly. Her responses felt so natural, like she had been studying the language for years. However, it felt like a language she had forgotten to practice for a year or so. Although the way she said things were worded strangely at first, they were quickly becoming natural to her. Things felt a little strange to say, but the more she spoke, the easier it became.

She tried speaking again,

"How will we go… I mean… How will we explore outside the city?"

The pale alien gave her a mixed look of amusement and surprise,

"Very good."

As soon as she said those words, the sound of footsteps made them turn toward the entry hall. A familiar face made the doctor shift nervously. Zarek was standing beside a smaller male Engineer, the younger male motioned toward the two females and spoke,

"There they are Sir."

The familiar Engineer took a few steps towards them, a small look of amusement on his face as the younger male walked off,

"I see you both are getting better acquainted."

Understanding him in his own language gave the small woman chills, she wrung her hands together and looked way from his face. She could feel Zarek's eyes on her, making her feel that much more anxious. His rich voice always commanded attention, she supposed that's why he made a great officer. Morsani noticed the sudden change in Ellie's behavior as she responded to the officer,

"That we are. You are back early Officer, I suppose you're only doing training now rather than patrol. So, I have to ask, would you be willing to take her out passed the city walls? I'm sure she would like to see what the planet truly looks like. It would be who of you to show her around. You two should be able to communicate better now."

Something about this whole situation seemed forced. The doctors eyes gradually moved to the female Engineer, eyeing her curiously. She wasn't sure why Morsani was so excited for her to see the rest of the planet, she supposed it must be a scientist quirk. The space jockey motioned with her hand toward a door in the far corner of the lab. Zarek's finely chiseled face turned toward the door, he spoke again to the two females,

"Is there a ship for us to take?"

…

They were loaded up in a small hover carrier ship, and it was a bit cramped in the cabin. Since there was only room for two, Morsani insisted that they could leave David there with them. The android had been enthused to get a closer look at the exotic plant life on his own anyway.

The front of the hover ship was clear and angular. There were two large seats in the front, and it was fairly roomy. The fiberglass front of the ship reminded Ellie of the front windows of the Prometheus, only on a smaller scale. Once they made it out of the large steel loading bay of the lab, there was just snow. It looked like the ice fields went on for miles, she couldn't see anything in the distance through the snow and fog.

The first couple minutes were too quiet. The roar of the engines under the carrier ship hummed through the small cabin, it also slightly vibrated the seats beneath the silent duo. Nervous hands writhed over one another as Ellie stared straight ahead of her. She was too afraid to even look at him. The silence was suffocating, and the frigid air was stifling. It was far colder out here than it was inside the city, she hadn't even thought this was possible. The seats had heat strips in them, similar to the ones already present on the spine and ribs of her uniform. Her gloves and boots also did a great job of keeping her smallest digits warm.

"So you understand us now?"

His sudden statement made her inhale sharply and tense her jaw, and her head yanked to the left at him. The Engineer's black eyes were ahead of him, his hands on the control shifts. She struggled to find words. This new language felt like one she had known, but hadn't practiced. She had to sit and ponder each word and figure out the tense to put it in. She had studied many languages in her school days. She was fluent in French, Italian, and only knew some basic speech in Arabic from when she traveled to Egypt on an excavation trip.

"I understand some…"

"Then let me apologize for my actions last night; it was… unlike me to act in such a way."

She wasn't sure how to take this. He was sorry? Was he really sorry for coming onto her? Or was he sorry for hurting her? Or was he even sorry because he regretted it?

"Sorry for what exactly?"

That stoic face turned to her as she spoke, giving her chills as their eyes met. A warmth crept onto her cheeks, making her slightly curve her lips into a smile. The memories of last night proceeded to cloud her thoughts. He seemed to notice the small twitch of her lips,

"I did not mean to complicate anything. It's hard to explain, because I am unsure of what I feel."

Ellie shifted uncomfortably and looked down at her hands, suddenly feeling slightly disappointed. The Engineer also seemed to shift, the air between them was severely awkward. Neither of them could tell what the other was feeling, and now that the language barrier was broken; where were they to start?

The woman spoke softly, staring down at her hands to recall the appropriate words,

"Well what caused you to act unlike yourself last night?"

"The more time I spend around you, the more my understanding of your purpose here increases. The most important factor to me, is that I owe you my life."

"How do you figure that?"

She interjected, eyes back on the side of his stern face. She truly didn't see how his life was owed to her in any way possible, she had caused him nothing but trouble since she had begun tagging alongside him. The sound of a wheeze escaped his chest as he sighed, staring out at the cold scenery before him.

"If not for you, I - still be asleep on that warship; I - have died in stasis eventually."

Some of the words weren't clear to her as she listened to him, she was still trying to master her understanding. She felt a bit uplifted by his response, and jokingly spoke to him,

"I'm just grateful you didn't tear me apart like you did Weyland and his mercenaries."

"That is one - I do not regret. That elderly - believed himself so great; he could ask for eternal life. As I've said before, you seemed like a prisoner of theirs. There was something different about you. Something the others did not possess, but I could see it in you."

His words greatly confused her, she furrowed her eyebrows together and looked from her hands to his face a couple times. Something in her? Was there something he could sense and she could not? Did the Engineers have that ability?

The alien continued, looking back to her again with a look of reminiscence on his features,

"I saw - similar in the market, in your eyes as you stood before -; when you tried to comfort that child."

"Is that why you defend me?"

A small nod gave her the answer as he glanced back in front of the carrier, and then down to a small map on a hologram. The woman beside him shifted in her seat, turning her upper body more toward him.

"What is it you can see in me?"

A hint at a smile appeared on his lips,

"I cannot explain it - a way for you to understand."

"I see."

Another silence filled the cabin of the hover ship, and two pairs of eyes stared out at the front window. She had so many more questions, but all she could think of was his 'sixth sense' about her. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, what he was referring to. A deep voice interrupted her thoughts once more,

"Also… My apologies if I _hurt_ you."

His words ignited a red flame in her cheeks, her mouth almost dropped open when she realized what he was referring to. The woman forced an awkward laugh and looked to her right, as far as she could from his face.

"I'm all right."

Her curt response made the smile creeping on his face widen just as she glanced back to him. He was somewhat charming when he smiled, even though it was still subtle. He didn't wear a big toothy grin like most men. As soon as she saw his amusement, she nudged his arm with her left hand. Abyssal eyes shifted to her in a feigned surprise, she huffed and fought the color in her flushed cheeks as she confronted him,

"This amuses you?"

The alien scanned her face to analyze her emotions, his eyes keeping the small amount of kindness in them. She sputtered words again through her blush,

"We shouldn't have done that in the first place…It's my fault."

A sigh escaped her throat as she looked back down at her hands, trying to find something more interesting than his increasingly handsome face. The more she looked at him, the more she admired his features. It was beginning to be a problem.

Zarek shifted slightly and looked at the controls, his words were almost sarcastic,

"If it was anyone's fault, it would be mine. I should have better controlled myself, I didn't consider the risks of injuring you."

"Control yourself from sleeping with your people's creation? A _lesser_ being..."

The words were bitter in her mouth, and they came out a bit more crude than she intended. She wasn't sure what brought on that little spat; she didn't intend to make the conversation sour. The woman's eyes rested on his hand, it was so close to her as it rested on the control column at her immediate left. His words were soothing to her now, easing the tension in the air.

"I do not see you as simply a beautiful creation. - not sure what I can see in you, but you are - more than that. If I believed you were a lesser being, I would not have allowed that blue collar to be placed around your neck. As for last night, I only meant that I did not want to make you believe you had no choice. I am not in control of you, because I do not view you as _lesser_."

His response gave her a lot more to think about, and more questions. The word beautiful stuck out to her, and gave her that silly butterfly feeling in her abdomen. He was so straightforward, so direct. It was fairly obvious that he couldn't understand this strange connection between them either. It didn't feel the same as love, it felt like something different. If it was something more she couldn't tell; not at this point anyway Her definition of love felt faded, like she hadn't been loved in so long. She hadn't lost Charlie for more than a week and a half, and she was already desperately clinging to this Engineer for emotional support. Everything was jumbled.

A hand propped her head up on an armrest on her left, her eyes gazing intently out the snowy windows.

They were a mess.

Neither of them could figure out what the attraction was. It was definitely physical, somewhat emotional, and it felt incredibly necessary. The idea of being without Zarek made her afraid; far more afraid than she should be. Their short journey had been life or death, and intense the entire time. There was a quality inside each other they couldn't put their fingers on. Ellie knew she could feel something inside him, something about this Engineer resonated with her in a different way than with Charlie. All of these thoughts made her rub her temples in frustration. It was beyond irritating to not be able to understand your own feelings.

It was like some part of her had been missing, and it wasn't the God her father had believed in so strongly. After God had abandoned her, and took everything away from her; here she was. An Engineer had swooped in and gave her life a purpose again by giving her the opportunity to discover a new life and leave the ashes of the former one behind. Something different made her ache to remain beside this new being in her life. The whole situation, despite being emotionally taxing; felt so right. Nothing in the world could make her turn back. Nothing could make her wish to be back on Earth.

His rich voice made her come back to reality and look at where he was pointing on the small hologram map.

"We're almost there."

[][][]

Awww That was sweeter than I had intended… Hope everyone liked it! You guys are gonna see cool new parts of the planet now. Teehee. :D

/Also, I will not be going back and forth between English and Engineer's language, I'll simply leave it to you guys to understand that they are probably speaking in the Engineers language, and I'll point it out if the conversation changes back to English. And my apologies if anyone had an issue with the way I made Ellie learn the language, it just seemed trivial compared to what I'm going to do with the story. Thanks for understanding! Love you guys, thanks so much for reading! I'll update as soon as I can!

Remember, please R and R!


	12. Council

I've got so many ideas! It's hard to get them all down! Sorry it took me so long, I've been studying and writing research papers for classes. Hope this is up to your expectations!

Apologies for any mistakes!

-[12]-

"We're almost there."

Wide brown eyes stared out at the approaching figure, it was a mass of what looked like trees. They were enormous trees that resembled the baobabs of Africa. They had to be at least sixty feet tall, and the small branches were all the way towards the top. Small dark violet leaves decorated the top, they looked like small black dots from down inside the carrier ship.

The howling wind blew the powdery snow into the sides of the trees. The large trunks blocked the gusts and as they entered the spacious forest. They were in silent awe at the tranquility of the forest, the only sound was the rumble of the hover carriers engines. The small ship easily maneuvered between the large trunks of the trees, leading them deeper into the winter wonderland. There seemed to be very little vegetation on the ground from what Ellie could tell, it looked like just snow and trees.

"Where are you taking me?"

She said softly, her eyes scanning the landscape ahead of her in search of life. A low metallic voice responded to her,

"You'll see."

That evasive response made her feel a twinge of frustration, he was a bit aloof in his words. It was almost bothersome, but definitely kept her on her toes. He had more personality than she had expected.

The Engineer moved some controls, and made the engines slow down. The doctor shifted around and observed him as he stopped the small hovering vessel. There was a small rumble as the ship lowered and landed in the snow. That nervous feeling came back a little as the ship halted and Zarek spoke to her,

"You can breathe here, are you ready?"

"Ready to go outside you mean?"

"Yes."

The woman excitedly nodded her head and observed him as he unlocked the side door to his left. She mirrored his actions and popped open the locks to her side door. As soon as she opened the door and stepped down onto the ground, her feet crunched into the deep snow. For a moment, the wind blew around her in an ethereal sort of way; her hair waved around her face and tickled her.

Frigid air made her cheeks feel bitten by the wind, her eyes gazed around the wintry scene. The snowflakes fell so daintily around them here. The wind was blocked by most of the enormous trees around them. The air felt dry in her mouth and lungs as she looked straight up at the towering treetops. The branches were so far above her, and little snow flakes rained down on her gently.

The sound of footsteps in the deep snow made her glance back down and to her right. Zarek walked toward her, his huge steps making giant holes in the perfect white powder. He held something out to her, a small object with a strap. The woman held it up and observed the small gas mask looking contraption, it looked very high tech.

"It is a breathing apparatus, please, put it on. It will protect your lungs in this cold."

"Oh, Thank you."

The doctor then moved the straps around her head, clipping it on in the back. The small steel front seemed to meld to her face, and cover her nose and mouth. As soon as she had it on, the alien began walking in the direction they had been traveling.

Ellie practically had to hop though the snow because it was at kneecap level for her. The two continued walking for a while, in utter silence. It wasn't awkward though, it was a comfortable silence. It felt like the nature of this place was swallowing them up.

After a couple minutes of treading through the icy powder, the depth of the snow seemed to shrink. There were fewer and fewer trees until they dissipated completely. The ground became a sandy-grey colored stone, and a large clearing came into view. The air even felt warmer in this clearing, making the doctor look to the back of the alien walking ahead of her. The Engineer's pace slowed bit, and he motioned for her to come up beside him. As soon as she moved up beside him, she gasped in awe.

It looked like a small pond, or spring, and the top edges of it were vibrant colors. A thin layer of steam came off the surface, and floated up into the air around the clearing. The shallowest edge was a light red, and it faded through the colors of the rainbow, and the center of the pond was a rich deep blue and looked like the water source went into the ground. It looked almost fake because of the bright colors. It was the most color she had seen since she had been out in space.

"It's a prismatic spring."

Zarek informed her, looking down at the woman to his right. She cooed in amazement, looking back up to his dark eyes.

"It's incredible… We have some like this on Earth, but they're so rare. The colors are caused by the mineral content in the water. I've only seen photos of them until now…"

Her words trailed off as she turned back to look at the rest of the clearing. It looked like it was a spring in the middle of an enormous forest. The trees must have been using the underground water source. The snow around the spring was like a white canvas, and the colored spring looked like a rainbow that had fallen from the sky and collapsed in the middle of this clearing.

The doctor carefully brought her hands to her face and pulled the mask off, exhaling a puff of smoke into the cool air. Zarek protested her actions,

"You should leave that on."

"I'll be fine… You worry too much."

The alien looked down at her with a crease in his forehead from the sarcastic glance he was giving her. Her eyes had a playful gleam as she forced herself to look away from him. His emotions were so slight, but made her think he was that much more handsome. This connection between them was hard to hide.

Another small occurrence made the scene before them that much more magical. Tiny flakes of snow began to fall from the opening in the canopy above the small spring. The entire scene reminded her of a fairy tale, it was something she could only imagine in a book. The Engineer's planet wasn't all desolate tundra, these forests had beautiful hidden treasures.

"You should put the mask back on."

Zarek's words were not as stern as before, he seemed to be letting down his guard. This made her feel that much more comfortable with him.

"Maybe we could go swimming sometime."

Her joke made him look over at her in a condescending sort of way, his expression made her smile wide. A chuckle escaped the doctor's throat as she continued looking around the clearing. She saw no movement, it didn't look like there were any organisms here. They stood in quiet admiration at the scene for what felt like hours.

After a long while, Zarek got her attention and turned back away from the spring, making his way back toward the carrier ship. She knew he probably wanted to get back soon, the days were a bit shorter here than on Earth; the sun would be setting soon.

…

Once they were back at their lab, Morsani greeted them and informed them of a transmission she received while they were gone. The Elder council had called for Ellie to come meet with them. They required Zarek to bring her to them immediately upon their return to the lab. This sudden demand from the council made the doctor nervous. She wasn't sure what to expect from them.

The low metallic hum of the teleportation platform made her tense up as they switched places; appearing in that same throne room from before. The hum echoed in the tall building, it made the two armored guards turn toward the three of them. David was quiet, he had learned to stay silent around the Engineers since they didn't care for his presence. He was considered a mockery of life, and they didn't want him piping in on conversations in which he didn't belong.

Zarek's heavy footsteps were the only sound as he stepped out ahead of them. The android and the woman were like toddlers following a parent, just quiet as they made their way over to the staircase. As they reached the base of the stairs in the blinding room, the Engineer spoke in passing to the synthetic human,

"Stay here droid."

Simply calling him a droid was almost offensive, but David complied. He wished the doctor luck as she sheepishly smiled back to him to reassure him everything would be fine. The synthetic just watched with the phony smile on his face as the other two made their way up to the top of the staircase. Two pairs of dark eyes were on him as he took a couple steps back; trying not to offend the guards by being too close to the staircase.

There were thirteen filled chairs surrounding them as they came upon the main section of the throne room. About fifteen feet from the top of the stairs, there was a step back down, into a slightly lower section in front of the throne chairs. Ellie felt her heart pound out of control as she stepped down in front of all of the Elder Engineers. Many sets of eyes honed in on them as they walked in front of the thrones. Zarek slowly dropped to on knee in front of them, and the doctor quickly caught on and did the same. Her eyes looked from face to face, taking in what they each looked like. Each Elder Engineer wore a different colored collar on their long robes, the collars were tall and stuck up around their heads around ear level. The first to speak was the one with the same color collar as she and Zarek, his voice was raspy and kind,

"Officer Zarek, please introduce this human to us."

Zarek's voice boomed out in the half rounded room, his body slowly lifting into a standing position.

"Her name is Ellie, she is an inhabitant of Earth that freed me from my stasis module on planet Umarak."

The name stuck out to her. Umarak. She had been calling the planet LV-223 for so long, it sounded strange for it to suddenly have a name. One of the Elder Engineers suddenly leaned forward in his throne, his tone far more ferocious sounding than the blue collared alien's,

"And you dare bring that atrocity here to our home planet with you?"

"Excuse my insolence sir, but as far as I was aware; if one's life is saved by another we do not pay that individual back with death or abandonment. Or has that changed since I've been around?"

Being called an atrocity made the woman feel small, she stood up shyly behind her friend. She didn't want to speak, or make anyone anymore upset with her presence. The orange collared space jockey shifted in his seat in a fluster, his huge hand pointed at Zarek directly,

"You wretched-"

"Your judgement is resolute Officer. We only ask, what do you wish us to do with this woman?"

A green collared alien interrupted the rude Engineer, she was a bit younger than the others. Her eyes were kind, and she couldn't have been more than ten years older than the doctor. The male to the right of the green collared Engineer shot a glare at her for interrupting him. Zarek looked at her directly as he answered her,

"Nothing. There is-"

"Well we cannot send her home to Earth! That much is absolute! She has seen our world, and it would be troublesome if the humans learned of our home planet's location. It would cause unnecessary conflict between our worlds."

It was an ancient looking male Engineer that cut off her friend, his collar was a bright yellow. Zarek looked over at him, he nodded and spoke in response to the curt space jockey,

"I agree, I made no such plans sir."

The green collared female smiled and looked at Zarek with an overly friendly expression in her eyes, it made Ellie uncomfortable. Her eyes showed some sort of desire, that much she could read. The doctor shifted uncomfortably by her Engineer's side, the immature part of her wanted to grab him and let the female Engineer know he was taken. But she wasn't even sure if that's how she should look at it. Zarek technically wasn't hers, but their situation wasn't exactly normal. It was too complicated to think about while in front of the council.

The female council member eyed him as she commented once again,

"Then you plan on keeping her, Officer Zarek?"

This question made the humans brown eyes look over to the tall Engineer beside her, he kept his eyes on the council members as he responded.

"Yes, that was indeed my plan Lady Mian."

Chills ran up the doctor's spine, she felt some mixture of happiness and fear. She was happy because Zarek didn't plan on getting rid of her, but at the same token; afraid because she would live here her whole life. It made her feel silly as well for being fearful, it wasn't like she planned on leaving once she got her answers. However, she hadn't really thought this far into her plan. She only hoped that she wouldn't be treated as a second class citizen.

"I must ask… What makes her deserve a royal status?"

The interjection came from the orange collared Elder Engineer, his eyes were narrow and back on Ellie. The royal Engineer with the same colored collar as Zarek responded to the question, a kind smile on his face,

"If she did not wear the color, she could not reside in our family's district, Crayyik."

A sharp glare came from Crayyik, he scoffed and moved about in his chair like he was getting comfortable. To his left, Mian, she waved a hand and chimed back into the conversation,

"We just wanted to meet our visitor first hand. I can't imagine that there is any other issue, as long as she doesn't cause anymore trouble in the market place."

A cold chill settled in on Ellie's skin when the female Engineer called her out on the scuffle she had gotten into. Her friend beside her nodded and spoke calmly,

"I will do my best to make sure she does not cause anymore trouble."

_Cause_ trouble? The doctor wanted to laugh; that male was the one to cause the trouble in the bazaar. A genuine smile appeared on her face,

"Thank you all, I appreciate your acceptance."

Some of the Elder Engineers returned her smile, but she also received a glare from the orange and yellow collared males. She expected to not be necessarily accepted by everyone. The nervous fear that had shaken her before was now gone, she felt welcome now. It was a huge relief to have them somewhat legitimize her existence here. Crayyik tugged at his orange collar as he glared at her,

"Don't think you're equal by any means. You are _not_ a citizen here, nor are you a member of any royal family. You should remain a ghost, because you are not to intervene in public matters, you have no rights."

Even with his bitter statement, the sheepish smile remained on the doctor's face. The royal blue collared male turned toward Crayyik, his brow lowered in a half assed glare,

"As far as I was aware Crayyik; she does not wear your family color, and therefore is not obliged to follow your word."

The kind elder space jockey turned his gaze back to Ellie, a small smile appearing on his face,

"You are welcome to remain in our family, Ellie. You are our guest, and we shall treat you as such."

A wide smile appeared on the woman's face, she nodded and responded sweetly,

"Thank you so much, that means more to me than I can express."

The overly friendly female Engineer waved her hand and dismissed them in a lordly manner,

"You two are dismissed. Please, take care of your new friend Officer Zarek."

…

Instead of going back to their home, Zarek took the woman to a different area of the same building. In the area they appeared, the halls were darker and ribbed. The ribbing came up the left wall, and hung over their heads, and the ceiling was solid. There were doors on the left wall occasionally, but they passed them all as they strode down the curved walkway. The right wall, was very different; it was all glass. The doctor's eyes were glued to her right side as they followed the curved hall to the left. She wasn't sure where Zarek was taking her, but she just followed without question.

Something seemed off about this great hall, there snow fell down outside, and kept going. There seemed to be no ground for the snow to pile up on. It didn't seem like it was build like a skyscraper, but she couldn't be sure. Her curiosity got the best of her as she trotted after the fast walking Engineer,

"Zarek… How tall is this building?"

The space jockey didn't even turn his head as he responded to her,

"It's three levels."

The woman walked closer to the glass when he finished his statement, looking down as best she could through the heavy couldn't see anything but white. Her eyebrows furrowed together in slight confusion, she piped up again with a question for her friend,

"I can't see the ground though… Where are we?"

His stern looking face turned down to his right as he responded to her,

"It is the Elder's floating palace, it's inside the largest city on our planet."

"_Floating_ palace?"

Her eyes were wide as she stared up at her friend, disbelief painted her features. Zarek almost looked amused at her reaction, she didn't look like she believed him. He nodded in response to her question,

"Yes. This is the Palace for the Elder Council members. It holds their conference room, throne room, and a base for the officers of this particular city. "

"That's amazing, I have never seen a floating palace before."

The hall seemed to narrow and there was a large doorway at the end, he motioned for him to follow him as the doors opened upon his approach. Once inside, she noticed it was an elliptical shaped armory of some sort. It reminded her of the old ship on LV-223 with the ribbed walls and huge ceilings. There were tiny rectangular windows on the right side; allowing only a bit of light to come in. Tiny lights lined the walkway into the room, they had an orange tint to them. On the walls, there were a plethora of weapons. Huge spears with some sort of carvings on them, and mechanical appendages. Armor plated suits were strung up beside what looked like different kinds of guns. Her eyes explored the room as they walked in, her words were quiet in the huge room,

"It's an armory…"

The space jockey ahead of her then made a quick right, and moved up to the wall under one of the small windows. There was a small plated suit on the wall, and many weapons decorated the walls around it. He began tinkering around with the suit, and unclipping some clasps. A small feeling of panic crawled up Ellie's spine,

"What are we doing in an armory?"

Her tone was a bit more demanding, and it made the alien glance back at her briefly before responding,

"You are small. I want you to be able to protect yourself in my absence."

"So you're giving me a gun to carry around? No thank you, I don't want to be seen as dangerous. I want to be accepted, not a gun slinging-"

Zarek made her trail off as he turned back to her and held out a small metal object. The woman stared at his hands, trying to figure out what he was holding. His low voice made her gaze up at him,

"Please give me your hand."

"Which one?"

"Doesn't matter."

Instinctively, she held out her right arm, the hand she wrote with. A huge hand softly took hers, and held her hand palm up. His free hand took the small metallic looking cuff and slid it around her small wrist and clapped it shut. Her eyebrows moved together as she eyed the strange looking arm cuff, it was about three inches long, and was a silver color. There was a small blue jewel looking stone on the inside of her wrist, below her palm. Zarek held up a finger to get her attention, and she hesitantly looked up at him.

"Watch carefully."

Her eyes fell to the metal band on her arm as he touched the blue jewel and a little rounded crease on the back of her wrist. He slid them both up, making little plated metal strips connected by small joints appear from under where his fingers were. He moved the blue jewel to the middle of her palm, and the other small plate slid over the back of her hand right behind her knuckles. Something felt magnetic between them, and the jewel pressed into her palm and pulled the top metal plate into her hand gently. It wasn't uncomfortable, but it felt strange. It looked like the wrist of a gauntlet, and small creases and raised edges gave it a slightly decorative look. It was almost beautiful, for an armored bracelet.

Glassy brown eyes looked up at the towering Engineer, and she tilted her head as she spoke to her friend.

"What is this?"

[][][]

Again, sorry for any mistakes, and for taking so long. I'm still trying to get through finals at my University. Hope this was what everyone wanted!

By the way, the "Prismatic Springs" are actual natural occurrences here on Earth. Rainbow and all. Please google them, they're freaking gorgeous! :D

Thanks guys! Can't wait to read the feedback!


	13. Plans

OMG Please, don't hate me. I love you guys so much for sticking around, and I know it's been about over 9000 years since I updated. I started my internship with the police department and I've been insanely busy. I would write bits and pieces as I got the time, so I apologize if this is a bit choppy. BUT- it's an update.

I'm alive! Please enjoy and R and R! And Thank you to all of you who reviewed, I still go back and read through them to get inspiration.

[][][][][][]

Large eyes stared up at the pale alien in front of her, his expression looked blank. Those deep eyes were locked on her face as he began to explain the purpose of the bracelet he gave her,

"It will allow you to protect yourself here. Not everyone will necessarily be friendly toward you, and you are very... small."

"Well what does it do?"

Her curious eyes were now on the metallic arm band, she ignored his comment about her being small and twisted her hand around in front of her face, taking a closer look at the metallic joints. Zarek continued,

"This will allow you to harness telekinesis."

The last word made Ellie's eyes grow wide.

"What?"

He blinked in response with no real emotion on his face as he stared down at her,

"It is a Kinesis Module, this particular one has limited capability. But it will allow you to keep others from attacking you in case of an emergency, it's more for defense. It allows you to move tangible objects around you, including living things. The range is around six meters."

"That… That's amazing…I wonder how…"

Her eyes were wide like an excited child's as she kept looking closely at the metallic arm band. The Engineer then motioned towards the door,

"I must take you back home, I must meet with my superior before I accompany you."

…

It had been two hours since she arrived home; Zarek still wasn't back. But as soon as Ellie arrived home, David had a whole plethora of interesting facts to share with her regarding their society and it's history.

Many images of landscapes and Engineers opened and closed on the huge hologram computer screen. Ellie sat like the teachers pet, listening intently and eyes glued to the computer screen.

"Their entire planet's atmosphere is colder than that of Earth, it's atmosphere is also heavier and more dense. There is usually heavy fog blocking most of the sunlight, but still many areas have thick vegetation. And the spring you saw was a prismatic spring, this planet has many of them coming from deep beneath the permafrost."

"So the entire planet is blanketed in arctic winter? What about the seasons? The planet has to experience some sort of seasonal change-"

"It does, but only mild changes. The snow for the most part melts in the spring and summer, but the permafrost gives the planet limited vegetation."

The android shifted his weight back and ran a hand through his hair as he continued scrolling through the pictures and explaining them to the doctor.

"Their species has the identical DNA of that of a human, but their bodies are built slightly different than yours. Their muscles are denser as well as their skin, it allows them to survive the harsh cold of their planet."

A small scoff escaped the red head's lips and she looked down away from the computer screen, and thoughts of how muscular Zarek was came to her mind. Other thoughts began coming back to her mind as she sat quietly beside David, the android took notice of her sudden silence.

"Everything all right Dr. Shaw?"

A phony smile appeared on her lips and she pretended to look back up at the screen, her thoughts still lingered on that night she shared with Zarek. A slight heat lit up her cheeks as she remembered every trivial passionate detail of the encounter. Her response came out sounding far more hesitant than she intended,

"Yeah… I'm all right, just lost in thought."

The mechanical roar of the teleportation pad made Ellie tense up, she felt her heart jump into her throat as she tried to dismiss the thoughts of her and Zarek being intimate. Why now of all times would she think about this? A twinge of guilt twisted at her insides as she thought of sleeping with someone so soon after she lost her previous lover.

The clunk of large feet hitting the steel ground made both of the others look back over at him, the alien officer nodded his head at them and remained silent as he made his way up the steps to the main bedroom. Ellie's curiosity forced her to get up and follow suit; whatever he had spoken to his Elder Engineer about, it had to be important. David sat quiet and continued looking over the multiple screens he had pulled up.

The woman exited the room without a remark and followed Zarek into the upstairs bedroom. The Engineer wheezed a relaxing breath as he twisted his neck in a stretching fashion, the doctor stood quiet across the room from him for a few moments. His head jerked to the side when he realized she had followed him upstairs, but he said nothing. Ellie shifted under his gaze as he turned toward her, the silence was stifling and made her feel cold. Something about his presence made her feel distant, like his mind was far away from here.

"What did you talk to your Elder about? If you don't mind my asking."

The large figure shifted his weight and stared down at her with black eyes,

"Quite a bit."

His response wasn't satisfying to her and made her cross her arms, her eyes were locked on his as she spoke again.

"Nothing you feel like sharing?"

Zarek glanced to the side, avoiding her gaze, something was bothering him. Ellie took a few steps up to him and stood uncomfortably close to the Engineer. His chest visibly tightened at the close proximity of the small woman.

"Something is on your mind, that much I know. Is everything okay?"

Her tone got a lot more soothing towards the end of her question, it made him look back down at her. There seemed to be a mixture of grief and tension in his expression, he took a shallow breath and explained himself.

"There is a mission to go back to Umarak, to recover any other survivors."

The news hit Ellie like a bucket of ice water, she blinked a few times and looked around briefly, struggling to find words. That planet was hell and now the Engineers wanted to go back?

"Ah-And you're going to this?"

Her hushed words made his demeanor change to a form of sorrow as he stared down at her. The woman shook her head and looked up at him,

"You're really going back?"

Zarek slowly nodded down at her, feeling almost guilty for telling her the news. She shook her head slowly once more, not believing what she was hearing. How could he go back to the place he had almost died at to search for others? Couldn't he leave that to a search party?

A small rush of panic at her realization made her shift around and look up at him wide eyed,

"That means you're leaving me here…alone?"

Alone was a strong word, she technically had Morsani and David, but she was too engrossed in the idea of him leaving to really think through what she was saying.

"You will not be alone."

"But you…"

Ellie hushed herself before she said something she'd regret. She still couldn't quite figure out what she was feeling towards him, but him leaving felt like a slap in the face. The idea of going back to LV-223 made her feel sick to her stomach, there was nothing there but death; but she understood why they would go back. It made sense if there were more ships to check for survivors on.

The doctor felt cold, a rift had been put up between them because of him telling her this news. Zarek reached out as she turned away to walk out of the room, a large pale hand firmly grabbed her shoulder and gently urged her back to face him. The two stared at one another for a long while.

A wave of courage rose up in the humans heart as she confronted him,

"I wanted to talk to you about the other day as well…"

Her tone sounded like a teacher disciplining a student, it made him look away in a slight embarrassment. The small twinge of emotion from him made her crack a tiny hint of a smile. This big intimidating Engineer felt embarrassment like the rest of them. His tone was quiet now,

"That was my doing, and I apologize."

His apology caught her off guard, and the woman leaned over to look into his deep set eyes. He knew exactly what she was referring to, meaning he probably had it on his mind too. She huffed and shrugged,

"_Your_ doing?"

"Those events wouldn't have transpired if not for my…convincing."

"Convincing?"

She practically spat the last word back at him, he arched his back up straight in surprise at her sudden boldness. The doctor hated to admit that she had thoroughly enjoyed the experience, even though it was completely a surprise to her. The two stared at each other for a couple moments, and a small chuckle came from the smaller being.

"You didn't _convince_ me of anything, I went along on my own free will."

Zarek seemed to be absorbing what she was saying, a small weight appeared to have lifted from his shoulders as soon as she said this.

"Is that a surprise to you?"

Ellie seemed far more bold now, she leaned in towards him and he slowly nodded.

"I was a bit apprehensive about bringing up our previous encounter with you"

The doctor nodded and seemed to understand his apprehension on the subject, but a tiny negative thought creeped into her mind. The idea that he might have regretted what he had done and perhaps didn't want to bring it up. The sudden silence made him reach out and ever so slightly touch her cheek to get her to look back up at him, she did and spoke up once more,

"Do you regret it?"

The question seemed to catch the Engineer off guard, and his pause made her stomach twist into a hard knot. To his people, she would be a 'lesser' being and not worthy of such contact with anyone of his race, especially not of a royal family. She bit the inside of her lower lip and furrowed her eyebrows together. A huge wave of relief showered down on her as soon as she saw him shake his head from side to side.

"I do not."

That relief made her whole boy feel light and warm, she felt so relieved that the Engineer she was feeling so attached to was somewhat feeling what she was. Zarek tensed up as she reached out and put her arms around his waist, firmly hugging him. A hesitant hand reached up and stroked the hair on the back of her head, a small smile curved the corners of his lips as he looked down at her.

Something about this fragile human brought out a softness in him. She had saved his life and was nearly fearless in the face of a new planet, on top of all this, she was now alone. The robot in his mind didn't count as a human being, and all she had was him. He was the cure to her loneliness. This female harbored feeling for him despite the fact he had destroyed all of her crew; and she still somehow managed to be so fascinated by him and his people that she set all of that bloodshed aside to attempt to save his life while they were escaping the planet. A tiny soft spot had developed in his heart the moment he allowed her to live, but now he was feeling far too attached. It wasn't just pity he was feeling now, the night of their encounter brought out a desire in his heart that had been in a slumber for more than the two thousand years he had been at rest. Having feelings towards someone wasn't the first thing in his mind when he woke up either, but it was starting to become too noticeable for him to keep shoving aside.

"I'm glad to hear that."

Ellie said as she released him, looking back up to her pale friend. The large alien leaned down and pressed his lips against her forehead, and then leaned back up to meet her gaze. Her soft voice questioned him once again,

"But… Could I go with you to planet Umarak?"

…

"Are we having one of your associates take care of this or shall I have someone do it? I have someone in mind already if you don't mind."

A sigh escaped the lips of a frail old Engineer with a bright yellow collar, lazy world weary eyes glanced over at the fiery younger male in the spiked orange collar. Crayyik smirked a most malicious smile back at the older Engineer as he continued,

"I can handle the entire situation if you wish, she wont have Officer Zarek around to babysit her once his mission starts."

"It's ludicrous anyway, they won't find any others on that rock."

The ancient Engineer shifted in his chair and blinked impatiently at the orange collared male as he scoffed in response.

"That's the point Imaji, he will be off for a couple days on that spit of a planet and we can take care of that damned human and her machine before they rile up more trouble than they already have. All she is here doing is stirring trouble and making our people question what to do about the humans once again. Hell, I've heard talk about steps we should take on our other experimental planet too, its ridiculous. That fight is over and the humans need to be left out there alone like the waste of space they are, same goes for Pandora in my opinion. We create these two races like they will be useful or further our existence and we are still here, we will probably out live them anyway… By the way, I also personally think that human-studies scientist of ours may need to be dealt with as well, I feel she may try to contact the humans. Ugh what a thought…"

Imaji reached out with a fragile hand and patted the forearm of the talkative male,

"Take care of things as you see fit Crayyik, you're old enough and in a position of power now; it's your right to do so and I support what you're doing for our people. Leave Morsani to me, her family used to be very close to my own. And I agree with you, we wouldn't want her pushing for us to go out and meet an old failed science experiment that got left out in space to fend for itself. What a waste of time…"

[][][][][][][][][][]

Thanks so much you guys for sticking around, I really hope this was a good enough update and I'll really try to update more if I can. Promise I didn't give up on the storyline!

R and R!


End file.
